UNICEF initiative on girl education & child marriage

Girl education

Leading up to working directly in secondary education, UNICEF has been concentrating on engaging with adolescents in upper primary school. A lot of work has already been done, particularly with the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) – residential upper primary schools for 11 to 14-year-olds who are out of school and girls from the most disadvantaged and marginalized communities.

In collaboration with UNICEF’s Child Protection, Child Development and Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Advocacy and Communication and Communication for Development sections, groundwork for a convergent programme for adolescents has been completed in one district. This experience will inform similar initiatives in other districts. 

Focusing on three broad topics – school-related, skills for life and skills for work – they help bring clarity about the way forward at the national and state levels, and strengthen interventions for adolescents.

Child Marriage

Child marriage is a violation of child rights, and has a negative impact on physical growth, health, mental and emotional development, and education opportunities.  While regional disparities exist, child marriage has significantly decreased from 47 per cent (2006) to 27 per cent (2016)

It also affects society as a whole since child marriage reinforces a cycle of poverty and perpetuates gender discrimination, illiteracy and malnutrition as well as high infant and maternal mortality rates.

Both girls and boys are affected by child marriage, but girls are affected in much larger numbers and with greater intensity. Child marriage can be seen across the country but it is far higher in rural than in urban areas. Girls from poorer families, scheduled castes and tribes, and with lower education levels are more likely to marry at a younger age.

Girls married as children are more likely to: 

• Drop out of school have a low-paid job and limited decision-making power at home. A girl with 10 years of education has a six times lower chance of being pushed into marriage before she is 18.

• Face violence, abuse and exposure to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases because they have fewer skills and less negotiating power. Nearly 13 per cent of married girls between 15-19 years of age experience sexual violence by their husbands compared with 10 per cent of women experiencing such violence between the age group of 30-39.

Although child marriage is declining, the rate of decline is slow. Broad, multi-faceted strategies are needed to target different aspects of the problem, including deep-rooted social norms and behaviours, the perceived low value of girls, limited access to education, exposure to violence, restricted freedom of movement and economic vulnerability.

UNICEF has been working tirelessly to prevent child marriage across the states where it works. Partnerships with government and civil society are a crucial part of these efforts, but much more can be done. 

UNICEF In Action

UNICEF is working alongside the Government of India in its efforts to prevent child marriage, including the implementation of the convergent national strategy, which includes:

• Law enforcement: Capacity-building on laws, support mechanisms such as a child marriage telephone hotline.

• Girls’ empowerment: Life skills, protection skills.

• Community mobilization: Working with influential leaders, oaths and pledges, counselling, folk and traditional media.

• Promoting convergence of sectors at all levels, in particular with education and social protection schemes and programmes.