世界の児童婚、減少傾向も根絶には３００年　ユニセフ

【国連ＡＦＰ＝時事】世界の児童婚の件数は減少傾向にあるが、根絶できるのは３００年後との見通しが、２日公表の国連児童基金（ユニセフ）の報告書で示された。逆に、新型コロナウイルス感染症などの危機が重なれば、増加に転じる可能性もあると警鐘を鳴らしている。（図解は、ユニセフのデータを基にまとめた、各調査年の地域別・１８歳未満で初めて結婚した２０歳から２４歳の女性の割合。）
　ユニセフは児童婚について、男女問わず、１８歳未満での結婚を指すと定義している。報告書によると、そうした女性は現在、６億４０００万人に上る。これは、毎年１２００万人が児童婚の対象になっていることを意味する。
　過去２５年間に関しては、児童婚は減少傾向をたどってきた。２０～２４歳の女性のうち１８歳未満での結婚の割合は１９９７年に２５％だったのが、２０１２年は２３％、２２年には１９％にまで低下した。
　それでも、３０年時点でなお約９００万人が児童婚を経験する計算になる。
　報告書の筆頭著者であるクローディア・カッパ氏は、「現在のペースでは、児童婚根絶には３００年待たなければならないだろう」としている。児童婚の対象となるのは１２～１７歳の少女が大半だという。
　報告書は、新型コロナや国際紛争、気候変動の影響といった要因が重なれば、児童婚の減少傾向が反転する可能性があると警告。新型コロナという単独要因だけで、２０～３０年に児童婚をする女性は新たに１０００万人増えると予測している。
　ユニセフのキャサリン・ラッセル事務局長は、「世界は相次ぐ危機に見舞われており、弱い立場の子ども、特に花嫁になるのではなく学校で学ぶべき少女の希望や夢が砕かれている」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/08-17:13）

Child marriages are declining -- but at a rate that would not eliminate the practice for another 300 years, while a perfect storm of crises could yet reverse the trend, the United Nations childrens' agency said Tuesday.
We definitely have made progress in the abandonment of the practice of child marriage, particularly in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, this progress was not enough, Claudia Cappa, lead author of the UNICEF report published Tuesday, told AFP.
According to UNICEF estimates, 640 million girls and women today were married when they were under 18. At present, an estimated 12 million girls are becoming child brides each year.
But over the past 25 years the rate at which such marriages take place has been slowing: in 1997, 25 percent of young women aged 20-24 were married before 18. By 2012 that figure had dropped to 23 percent, and by 2022 it was at 19 percent.
Still, that means some nine million girls are expected to be married off in 2030, the report said.
At current pace, we might have to wait 300 years to eliminate child marriage, Cappa warned, adding that the majority of these marriages involve girls aged 12 to 17.
And even that fragile progress is under threat -- UNICEF also fears that the convergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, global conflicts and the growing impacts of climate change could reverse the hard-won gains.
Covid-19 alone could be responsible for an additional 10 million underage marriages between 2020 and 2030, it said.
The world is engulfed by crises on top of crises that are crushing the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children, especially girls who should be students, not brides, said UNICEF boss Catherine Russell in a statement.
Such crises can see families feel forced to marry children off as a means of security.
Although child marriage is a clear violation of children's rights, it is often seen by families as a 'protective' measure for girls, providing financial, social or even physical protection, the report notes.
It is also a way to have one less mouth to feed.
Geographically, South Asia is the driving force behind the decline in girls' marriages.
However, the region still accounts for about 45 percent of the 640 million women today who were married as children. India alone accounts for a third.
UNICEF is particularly concerned about the situation in sub-Saharan Africa, which appears to be bucking the trend.
Girls there now experience the highest risk of child marriage in the world, with one in three marrying before age 18, the report said.
It expects the number of child brides there to increase by 10 percent by 2030.