Nearly 60 million women and girls across West and Central Africa entered child marriages before turning 18, with Nigeria accounting for the highest figures on the continent, a United Nations official warned Thursday, calling for urgent cultural shifts to curb gender-based violence that threatens regional progress.
The stark numbers underscore the region’s status as a global hotspot for such unions, often rooted in harmful traditions that expose young females to abuse and hinder development goals.
UN Women Regional Director for West and Central Africa Maxime Houinato highlighted the crisis, stating: “Nearly 60 million women and girls in the region were married before 18, with Nigeria bearing the largest absolute numbers. These figures, drawn from UNICEF’s databases, remind us that while progress is possible, it is not guaranteed.”
He stressed the need for locally driven solutions, adding: “These findings underscore the need for strong, locally led prevention and accountability.”
Houinato pointed to successes like Kenya’s drop in female genital mutilation rates to 15 percent in 2022, but noted sub-Saharan Africa’s alarming intimate partner violence levels, exceeding 40 percent among surveyed women.
“Research across 37 African countries associates such violence with illness, undernutrition and even death among young children,” he said.
Ahead of a Lagos conference on gender-based violence next month, Houinato urged traditional and religious leaders to publicly reject practices like child marriage and widowhood rites, backed by enforceable community bylaws.
“Traditional and religious leaders help convert state law into lived practice through declarations and community bylaws,” he explained, citing evidence from the Spotlight Initiative that such approaches reduce harm.
He advocated for survivor-centered justice systems, banning forced reconciliations, and called for stronger laws with adequate funding, warning: “If we act with urgency and unity, a life free from violence can become every African woman’s and girl’s lived reality.”
