Mapping child marriage in West Africa - New Ford Foundation study
The Ford Foundation has released a new study mapping early marriage in West Africa. The report looks at the causes of early marriage across the region and highlights some of the best practices and lessons learned from those working to end early marriage in West Africa.
The study surveys a wide region where few studies on ealry marriage have occurred in the recent past, looking at early marriage in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
In the time it has taken to read this article 6 girls under the age of 18 have been married
Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18
That is 23 girls every minute
Nearly 1 every 2 seconds