20,000 Nigerian Girls Saved From Child Marriage In Three Years

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Nigeria representative Ulla Mueller who was speaking at the launch of the report on sexual and gender-based violence, harmful practices and obbstetrics fistula in Nigeria, disclosed that more than 20,000 adolescent girls have been retained in schools and safe places, while over 5,500 women and girls are living with obstetrics fistula in Nigeria. 

Mueller said: "this is a three-year programme and it has seen more than 20,000 adolescent girls retained in school and safe spaces in order to delay child marriage. She argued that ending gender-based violence in Nigeria's "complex" terrain would require understanding and involving the communities and the women in those communities.

In August 2022, a report by the National Immunisation Coverage Survey (NICS) in collaboration with UNICEF, revealed that there has been a significant decrease in the number of children who are marrying before the age of 18.