Malawi to lose trillions of dollars because of child marriages

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Sexual cleansing

The World Bank has said that child marriages will cost developing countries such as Malawi trillions of dollars by 2030.

This has been revealed in the Economic Impacts of Child Marriages report published by the World Bank and the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW).

In developing countries, the bank said, one in three girls is married before the age of 18, with one girl married off every two seconds.

Child marriages still a matter of concern in Malawi.
(Image credit: www.peacetimes.news)

Malawi is one of the top 20 countries in the world where child marriage is highly prevalent.

According to the report, in Malawi, 31 percent of women aged between 18 and 22 had a child by the age of 18 while 45.9 percent were married by the age of 18.

“Child brides are often robbed of their rights to safety and security, to health and education, and to make their own life choices and decisions,” said the World Bank’s Project Director Quentin Wodon in a statement.

“Child marriage not only puts a stop to girls’ hopes and dreams. It also hampers efforts to end poverty and achieve economic growth and equity. Ending this practice is not only the morally right thing to do but also the economically smart thing to do.”

The bank emphasises that ending child marriages would have a large positive effect on the educational attainment of girls, lead to substantial reductions in population growth over time and reduce rates of under-five mortality and delayed physical development due to a lack of appropriate nutrition.

On lowering population growth, the report estimates that a girl marrying at 13 will have on average 26 percent more children over her lifetime than if she had married at 18 or later.

The analysis suggests that by 2030, developing countries will gain $500 billion annually in annual welfare from lower population growth.

According to report, keeping girls in school is one of the best ways to avoid child marriage.