Child Marriage and Empowerment Strategies

• Child marriage and early pregnancy are addressed through a comprehensive strategy including education, contraception access, nutrition, mental health support, and community empowerment.

• UNICEF reports that each additional year of secondary education can reduce the likelihood of child marriage by up to 6%.

• Project Udaan, implemented by IPE Global in Rajasthan, addressed early marriages and teenage pregnancies by keeping girls in secondary school, improving their awareness of sexual and reproductive health, and improving access to modern contraceptives.

• The Advika programme, launched by the Government of Odisha in partnership with UNICEF-UNFPA in 2019-20, has made strides in preventing child marriage through strategies such as strengthening state systems, fostering awareness about child protection issues, and empowering adolescents through education, skill development, and leadership training.

• The project has led to nearly 950 child marriages being stopped in 2022.

• Empowerment involves equipping adolescents, especially girls, with the skills, education, and opportunities they need to lead independent and meaningful lives.

• Project Manzil, implemented by IPE Global in collaboration with the Government of Rajasthan, addresses issues surrounding women’s economic empowerment and low female labour force participation.

• The State of World Population 2025 report emphasizes rights-based, multi-sector investments and the need to expand universal access to contraception, safe abortion, maternal health and infertility care, and remove structural barriers such as education, housing, childcare, and workplace flexibility.

• The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for World Population Day to celebrate the potential and promise of the largest-ever generation of youth.

• The world’s population is predicted to increase during the next 50 years, from 8.2 billion in 2024 to a peak of about 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s, and is expected to steadily decline after a peak of 10.2 billion by the end of the century.