Child marriages on the rise in Ethiopia as drought hits families

The worst drought in 40 years is reversing decades of progress made in combating child marriage across swathes of Ethiopia, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

In the first four months of this year child marriages nearly tripled in Ethiopia’s Somali province compared with the same period a year ago and, on average, more than doubled across three provinces, Unicef, as the fund is known, said in a statement on Wednesday, citing local data.

Impoverished families are exchanging female children for dowries and because “it’s one less mouth to feed for the family,” Andy Brooks, Unicef’s child protection adviser for

Ethiopia

Eastern and Southern Africa, said in an interview. “These are not decisions families are taking lightly.”

Girls as young as 12 are being forced to marry men five times their age and there is also an increase in female genital mutilation, which he said is a prerequisite for marriage

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