UNICEF: Child marriage is a problem in North Macedonia

The representative of UNICEF in Skopje, Patricija Diđovani, today asked for action to prevent child marriages in North Macedonia, which are a problem especially for girls.

"Child marriage deprives girls of their childhood and has detrimental effects on their health and economic prospects. It negatively affects development, access to school and their overall quality of life," she said.

"Although this harmful practice has decreased significantly in the last decade, child marriage is still a problem for girls in North Macedonia. Eight percent of all women aged 20 to 24 were married or cohabiting before the age of 18," Digiovani said on the occasion International Women's Day.

She stated that it is even more worrying that 45 percent of Roma women aged 20 to 24 in North Macedonia were married or in some kind of marriage relationship before the age of 18, and 15 percent of women before the age of 15.

According to Diđovani, girls who marry before the age of 18 are more likely to become victims of domestic violence and are less likely to get an education, early marriage is also associated with early childbearing, with an increased risk of pregnancy and childbirth complications.

Diđovani reminded that North Macedonia adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and two optional protocols and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women, where child marriage is expressly prohibited, and the Istanbul Convention on Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence requires states to criminalize forced and child marriages.