According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF, there are 650 million girls and women alive today who were married before age 18,3 and despite recent declines in child marriage – from 25% to 19% between 2008 and 20224 – 12 million girls are still married before the age of 18 every year.

While specific drivers vary by context, child marriage is consistently rooted in gender inequality and fueled by poverty, harmful social norms, insecurity and barriers to education.

As part of efforts to eradicate or minimize the act of early marriage or child marriage, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio in July this year, 2024, signed into law the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act , introducing a penalty of at least 15 years and a fine of around $4,000 for any man who marries a girl under 18.

This edition of the program explores early marriage, and the some factors that influence the menace in africa