Early marriage, child labour threatening world’s dev agenda

Early marriage, child labour and other practices undermining girls' health and rights threaten the world's ambitious development agenda, according to a report of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

"Practices that harm girls and violate their human rights-- starting at the age of 10-- prevent them from realising their full potential as adults and from contributing to the economic and social progress of their communities and nations," the report says.

Without their contribution, the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals may never be achieved, it said.

UNFPA released its State of World Population 2016 report today.

The report focuses on the 10-year-old girls and challenges for the world's nations to take measures for their education, health and social safety.

The age of 10-year-old girls is important as in large parts of the world, a girl who goes through puberty faces many vulnerabilities such as sexual harassment, child marriage, child labour, being pulled out of school and start bearing children, Argentina Matavel Piccin, UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh, told reporters at her office in Dhaka on the occasion of the report being released.

In Bangladesh, primary school enrolment of girls is nearly universal and enrolment stands at 69 percent in secondary level. However, drop-out rate is 47 percent.

Around 60 percent girls in Bangladesh are married before they reach 18 years. The adolescent fertility rate therefore is very high, at 113 per 1,000 live births.

"Such practices deny the immense potentials of girls and their impact on the whole society," Argentina Matavel said.

"Impeding a girl's safe, healthy path through adolescence to a productive and autonomous adulthood is a violation of her rights," UNFPA Executive Director Dr Babatunde Osotimehin says in the report.

"But it also takes a toll on her community and nation. Whenever a girl's potential goes unrealised, we all lose."