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Child Marriage in WCA at A Glance
Child Marriage in WCA at A Glance
Child Marriage in WCA at A Glance
September 2018
Child marriage in West and Central Africa is one of
the biggest challenges in the region and has enormous
adverse effects on education, health, including sexual
and reproductive health, and on the overall development
of adolescents and youth. This brochure provides recent
data and analysis of child marriage in the region.
This brochure has been developed following the
successful High Level Meeting on Child Marriage in
West and Central Africa held in Senegal in October 2017.
This was the first-ever High Level Event on Child
Marriage in the region. It is also been developed to
support the African Union (AU) work on ending child
marriage on the continent. It has been produced within
the framework of the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme 3 | CHILD MARRIAGE IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
100
90
4 | CHILD MARRIAGE IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cabo Verde
Ghana
Togo
Gabon
Guinea-Bissau
Benin
Côte d’Ivoire
Congo
Equatorial Guinea
The Gambia
Cameroon
Senegal
Liberia
Mauritania
Sierra Leone
Nigeria
Guinea
Mali
Burkina Faso
Chad
Niger
Democratic Republic of the Congo 8.9 million Central African Republic 800,000
100
90
80
70 67
60 56
53
50 45
41
40 34
30 25
19
20
10
0
Total Rural Urban Poorest Second Middle Fourth Richest
Residence Wealth Quintile
100
6 | CHILD MARRIAGE IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Niger
Nigeria
Guinea
Mali
Burkina Faso
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Côte d’Ivoire
Liberia
Benin
The Gambia
Ghana
Togo
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multi-Indicator Country Surveys (MICS), 2005-2017.
Generated by UNICEF Data and Analytics Section, January 2018
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
45-49 years 40-44 years 35-39 years 30-34 years 25-29 years 20-24 years
Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union by age 18,
by age cohort, West and Central African countries with the least decline
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multi-Indicator Country Surveys (MICS), 2005-2017.
Generated by UNICEF Data and Analytics Section, January 2018
100
8 | CHILD MARRIAGE IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
45-49 years 40-44 years 35-39 years 30-34 years 25-29 years 20-24 years
Prevalence and burden of child marriage, observed and projected, West and Central Africa
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multi-Indicator Country Surveys (MICS), 2005-2017.
Generated by UNICEF Data and Analytics Section, January 2018
100
90
20,8m
80
70 17,5m
60 14,8m
50
8,6m
40
30 4,7m
20
0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Number of women aged 20-24 who Number of women aged 20-24 expected Current level persists
were married or in union before age 18 to be married or in union before age 18 if:
Observed decline continues
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