"Child marriage is firmly rooted in gender inequality and patriarchal structures. Poverty, lack of education, and insecurity, drive child marriage even in stable times, so periods of crises exacerbate the problem, the charity says. She adds the problem has been aggravated as governments shift resources from key development areas such as education, family planning and reproductive health to battle the virus. In n Vietnam, the legal age to wed is 18, but Unicef says one in ten girls are married before. Unicef says ending child marriage will help break intergenerational cycles of poverty.

Source: The Star September 01, 2020 03:33 UTC