CNN: Child marriages on decline but 12 million girls still married every year
“Child marriages are declining, with the largest drop in South Asia, according to UNICEF. Ten years ago, a South Asian girl’s risk of getting married as a child was about 50 percent, but now that has fallen to about 30 percent. … ‘Any reduction is welcome news, but we’ve got a long way to go,’ said Anju Malhotra, UNICEF’s principal gender adviser…” (Park, 3/6).

Deutsche Welle: U.N.: Child marriage dropped significantly in previous decade
“Global advocacy efforts led to an estimated 25 million fewer child marriages since 2008 with South Asia seeing the largest decline in the practice, UNICEF said on Tuesday. But the agency warned that some 150 million girls are at risk of being married before their eighteenth birthday through to 2030 — the the U.N.’s target date for ending the practice — unless more is done…” (Pearson, 3/6).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: India’s child marriage numbers drop sharply, driving down global rate: UNICEF
“The proportion of girls getting married in India has nearly halved in a decade, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday, which has contributed significantly to a global decline in child marriage. … ‘India constitutes more than 20 percent of the world’s adolescent population and accounts for the highest number of child marriages in South Asia given its size and population,’ said Javier Aguilar, UNICEF’s chief of child protection…” (Srivastava, 3/5).