The United Nations Children’s Fund has raised concern over the prevalence of child marriage in Nigeria, revealing that two in five young women in the country were married before the age of 18.
The organisation also said six in 10 Nigerian children experienced some form of abuse.
UNICEF stated this as it unveiled plans to sharpen its child protection interventions by placing child abuse, child marriage and poor birth registration at the centre of its new country strategy.
The organisation said the new priorities would shape its 2028–2032 Country Programme and strengthen government-led systems to ensure more Nigerian children are protected from violence, exploitation and harmful practices.
Speaking at the opening of UNICEF Nigeria’s Child Protection Mid-Year Review and consultations for the development of the new country programme in Abuja, the organisation’s Chief of Child Protection, Natalie McCauley, said evidence must drive future interventions rather than programme outputs alone.
