Bangladesh praised for cut in early marriages

Bangladesh’s progress in reducing early marriage has been praised worldwide on the eve of the Girl Summit. Between 1990 and 2013, the number of women dying at childbirth in Bangladesh fell by 70 per cent with an opportunity to achieve the MDG target. Bangladesh has made remarkable progress over the past two decades in increasing primary enrolment of girls so that over 95 per cent start primary school and more girls than boys now complete their primary education. The country has trained more health and family planning workers than any other country. The result is that the average woman now has only 2.3 children compared with more than 6 previously. The proportion of women marrying in their early teens continues to decline as a result of education, employment and social awareness. Twenty years ago, 52 per cent of women were married by the age of 15 but that is now down by 17 per cent. Despite these efforts, there is still more to be done to reduce child marriage in Bangladesh. By the end of 2013, over half of the 3.7 million Bangladeshi women between 20 and 24 were married before they were 18, according to bdnews24.com.