In developing countries, one in three girls is married before the age of 18, and one in nine marries under 15. Recent reports from countries with high rates of child marriage indicate the situation is not changing for the better.
It is estimated that 14.2 million girls under 18 are married every year, or nearly 40,000 girls a day. The United Nations Population Fund estimates those numbers will increase in coming years, unless more direct action is taken.
The girls most at risk of marrying young tend to be rural, without education and extremely poor. They are usually denied further schooling and are kept from gaining the skills needed to be empowered participants in their society, country and culture.