What works to delay the age of marriage for girls in Bangladesh

New evidence on what works to delay the age of marriage for girls at highest risk in Bangladesh were released by the Population Council, says a press release.

Population Council findings released are from the "Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents" (BALIKA) project, a randomised controlled trial to evaluate whether three skills-building approaches to empower girls can effectively delay the age at marriage among girls aged 12-18 in parts of Bangladesh where child marriage rates are at their highest.

The trial found that three skills-building approaches: education support, gender rights awareness, or livelihoods skills, were successful in reducing child marriage and producing better health, educational, economic and social outcomes for girls.

More than 9,000 girls in 72 communities participated in the BALIKA project. Communities were assigned to one of three skills-building intervention strategies where girls received either education support through tutoring in math and English; life skills training on gender rights and negotiation, critical thinking, and decision making; or livelihoods training in entrepreneurship, mobile phone repair, photography and basic first aid.