skd:c:cGENEVA: The total number of child brides in Africa will rise from 125 million to 310 million by 2050 if current trends persist, meaning almost half of the world's child brides will be African, a Unicef report released on Thursday warned.
The report showed worldwide more than 700 million women and girls were married before their 18th birthday. Among them 17 percent, (125 million), live in Africa, and more than one in three of these women and girls (over 40 million) entered into marriage before age 15.
Girls in rural areas are twice as likely to become child brides as girls from urban areas, and similarly, girls from the poorest households are twice as likely to marry before age 18 as girls from the richest households, the report found.
According to the report, in all other regions of the world, current rates of reduction and demographic trends mean there will be fewer child brides each year.
However, by 2050 Africa will surpass South Asia as the region with the highest number of women aged 20 to 24 who were married as children.
Read More AtBy 2050, half of world's child brides to be in Africa - Times of India
