Climate change raises child marriage risk, NGO says

Plan International said Monday that global warming has increased the risk of child marriage, teenage pregnancy and violence against girls.

The charity said climate disasters including floods, droughts, cyclones and extreme heat were destroying health and education services that girls depend on, while also forcing some families to marry off young daughters as a “survival strategy”.

Its “Change Her Forecast, the State of the World's Girls 2026” report was based on interviews with 5,000 girls and young women aged 15 to 24 in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

Plan International said one in 10 girls reported an unintended pregnancy following a climate-related event, while 33 percent reported an increase in unintended pregnancies in their community.

The charity said nine in 10 girls reported that climate-related events were putting serious pressure on their family's survival, health and stability. It said 28 percent had witnessed an increase in violence against women after climate-related events, rising to 60 percent in Zimbabwe.

Plan International said prolonged drought across 52 countries and three decades emerged as the hazard most consistently associated with rising rates of child marriage and early unions.

The report was released before the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11 and a month before the COP31 UN climate conference opens in Turkey. Plan International called for countries to allocate a defined share of climate adaptation finance to adolescent girls' health, including sexual and reproductive health services.