Why efforts to protect children from early marriage have faltered in the Middle East

Special Why efforts to protect children from early marriage have faltered in the Middle East
Child marriage in the Arab world denies girls the chance to pursue education or employment and strips them of power. (UNICEF/file photo)
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Updated 23 March 2025
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Why efforts to protect children from early marriage have faltered in the Middle East

Why efforts to protect children from early marriage have faltered in the Middle East
  • Conflicts, disasters, and rising conservatism have rolled back women’s rights, says Oxfam’s Hadeel Qazzaz
  • Despite laws setting 18 as the minimum marriage age in many Arab countries, legal loopholes undermine progress

LONDON: In a bid to protect the rights of children, Kuwait recently raised the minimum age of marriage to 18. However, the fight against child marriage across the Arab world remains an uphill battle, particularly in conflict-ridden regions.

In mid-February, Kuwait amended its Personal Status Law No. 51/1984 and Jaafari Personal Status Law No. 124/2019, citing alarming rates of child marriage. In 2024 alone, 1,145 underage marriages were registered, including 1,079 girls and 66 boys.




Lebanese women participate in a march against marriage before the age of 18, in Beirut on March 2, 2019. (AFP/file)

The move aligns with the Gulf state’s international commitments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Under the principles of both conventions and other international treaties, child marriage is widely recognized as a harmful practice, and a violation of human rights that only deepens gender inequality, particularly as it affects girls more than boys.

“Child marriage is a human rights violation,” Hadeel Qazzaz, Oxfam’s Middle East North Africa regional gender coordinator, told Arab News. “It impacts the life of the child.”




Hadeel Qazzaz, Oxfam’s gender coordinator for MENA region. (Supplied)

She explained that child marriage denies girls the chance to pursue education or employment, strips them of decision-making power, and denies them both bodily autonomy and reproductive choice.

“It does not only impact the child’s life but also the life of her family and her future children,” said Qazzaz. “Girl brides are more likely to be subjected to different forms of gender-based violence and to be less engaged at the family, community, or society levels.”

According to New York-based monitor Human Rights Watch, research shows that underage brides are at a higher risk of experiencing domestic violence, marital rape, and restricted access to reproductive healthcare and education.




Child brides," or "death brides" as they are sometimes called, are quite common in poor tribal Yemen, where barely pubescent girls are forced into marriage, often to much older men. (AFP file photo)

UN agencies say a staggering 70 percent of married girls aged 15 to 19 experience physical or other forms of violence at the hands of their husbands.

Compounding the issue, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries. Girls aged 15 to 20 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as those in their 20s, while girls under 15 face a fivefold risk.

Pregnancy and domestic responsibilities often prevent girls from ever returning to education, Human Rights Watch warned. This lack of education limits their choices and opportunities throughout their lives, often leading to poverty.





Girls who marry young face many adverse effects that negatively impact their health and well-being, says the UNFPA. (AFP file photo)

The impact of child marriage extends beyond the individuals themselves, affecting the region’s economy as well.

A 2020 study by the International Monetary Fund found that eliminating child marriage could boost annual per capita gross domestic product growth in emerging and developing countries by 1.05 percentage points in the long term.

Nevertheless, child marriage remains a scourge across the Middle East and North Africa, hitting war zones and post-conflict societies the hardest.

The MENA region is home to 40 million child brides, with one in five marrying before the age of 18 and one in 25 before 15, according to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF. In recent years, girls have been married off at a rate of around 700,000 per year.

“These are alarming figures that can increase with fragility, conflicts, and natural disasters,” said Oxfam’s Qazzaz.

The five countries with the highest child marriage rates in the region are Yemen at 30 percent, Iraq at 28 percent, Iran at 17 percent, Egypt at 16 percent, and Morocco at 14 percent.

According to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the lack of legal protections, the impact of societal norms, poverty, and deep-rooted gender inequality are the key drivers of child marriage in the Arab world.

Many countries in the region have set the minimum age of marriage at 18, with some allowing exceptions based on judicial or parental consent. But even where minimum-age laws exist, exceptions often undermine their effectiveness.

In Iraq, for example, the problem is expected to worsen after authorities passed amendments to the personal status law in January, which indirectly legalize the marriage of girls as young as 9, sparking condemnation both domestically and abroad.




A girl joins a protest rally over a proposed amendment to the Iraqi Personal Status Law, which activists said would abet efemale child marriages. (AFP)

Although Iraqi law sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage, the amendments give Islamic courts greater authority to decide. Clerics could interpret Islamic law to allow such marriages under the Jaafari school followed by many religious authorities in Iraq.

Equality Now, a global feminist advocacy organization, warned that the amendments risk exacerbating existing gaps in Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law.

The group said the shift would create a fragmented legal system, with protections for children and women varying significantly across communities.

According to UNICEF, child marriage rates in Iraq vary widely by region, with Missan (43.5 percent), Najaf (37.2 percent), and Karbala (36.8 percent) reporting the highest rates.




Activists demonstrate against female child marriages in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on July 28, 2024, amid parliamentary discussion over a proposed amendment to the Iraqi Personal Status Law. (AFP)

“Fragmentation of laws creates loopholes that undermine the welfare of the most vulnerable, particularly girls, and weakens the state’s ability to uphold international human rights commitments,” Dima Dabbous, Equality Now’s MENA representative, said in a statement.

Conflict and displacement across parts of the MENA region, including Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Sudan, and the Palestinian territories, worsen inequalities that make girls vulnerable to child marriage and its consequences.

Oxfam’s Qazzaz pointed out that conflict is “one of the main reasons” for the rising rates across MENA countries. “In the Gaza Strip, where child marriage was less common, there is now a noticeable increase in the number of marriages,” she said.




In the Gaza Strip, where child marriage was less common, there is now a noticeable increase in the number of marriages, says Oxfam. (AFP photo/file)

“The reasons vary from fear for the safety of the girl to scarcity of resources that force families to marry their daughters to others who can provide for them.”

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, Gaza has been under intense Israeli bombardment and a strict blockade of humanitarian aid and consumer goods.

After 16 months of war, Gaza’s population — 90 percent of whom have been displaced — are now fully reliant on what limited aid can get through.




A woman feeds her child amid the rubble of destroyed buildings at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in the Nahr al-Bared area in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on December 9, 2024. (AFP)

While the January ceasefire has improved conditions in the embattled enclave, Israel’s recent decision to again suspend the entry of assistance threatens to reverse progress, aid agencies warn.

The situation for girls is similarly dire in Yemen — a hotspot for child marriage, where there is no legal minimum marriage age. The ongoing civil war, which began in 2014, has stalled efforts to establish one.




Yemeni child brides, eight year-old Nojud Ali (L) and nine year-old Arwa (R), pose for a picture as they celebrate their divorces, granted them by a Yemeni court, with a party in the capital Saana on July 30, 2008. (AFP)/file)

ccording to UN figures, the war has displaced more than 4.5 million people, and 21.6 million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The economic strain of displacement and conflict, coupled with pre-existing cultural norms favoring early marriage, has significantly increased underage marriages.

“In the MENA region, it’s not just conflicts that impact child marriage — economic and natural disasters, as well as the rise in conservatism and the regression of women’s rights, also play a role,” Qazzaz said.

Owing to the rise in conservatism and geopolitical tensions, “the achievements women’s rights organizations have gained through years of activism are at risk of being reversed,” she added.

Sudan, for instance, already saw high rates of child marriage and female genital mutilation even before the civil war erupted in April 2023.

Despite efforts to curb these harmful practices, 21 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 were already married before the war began, according to UNICEF.

The ongoing hostilities, mass displacement, worsening economic conditions, and declining education threaten to deepen the crisis facing women and girls.




Eight-year old Sudanese girl Ashjan Yousef, who was wed at the age of five to a man in his 40s, was granted divorce by the national court in Khartoum on October 13, 2014. (AFP/file)

Since fighting erupted between rival factions of Sudan’s military government, more than 12.5 million people have been displaced, either within the country or to neighboring countries including Egypt and Ethiopia.

Similarly, in Syria, 13 percent of women aged 20 to 25 were married as minors before the 2011 conflict broke out, according to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

However, more than a decade of war and displacement has significantly increased the rate of child marriage. Today, an estimated 41 percent of Syrian girls are married before the age of 18.

“Traditions, honor, economics, fear, and protection-related factors act as drivers of child marriage of refugees in Jordan and Lebanon,” said Qazzaz.

Around 6.2 million Syrian refugees live in neighboring countries, including Turkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, where most endure harsh living conditions, leading to a rise in child marriage as a coping mechanism.

In Jordan’s Zaatari camp, home to 80,000 Syrian refugees, girls as young as 13 are reportedly married to much older men. In Lebanon, 18 percent of adolescent Syrian refugee girls were married in 2014, according to UN figures.

National governments and international aid agencies are nonetheless working to improve the circumstances of women and girls and to protect them from early marriage. Oxfam, for instance, is a global partner of the Girls Not Brides campaign.




Child marriage in the Arab world denies girls the chance to pursue education or employment and strips them of power. (UNICEF/file photo)

“Most of our feminist and women rights partners work on child marriage as a major form of gender-based violence and seek to raise the age of marriage to 18,” Qazzaz said. “They document and challenge social and legal practices that allow for child marriage.”

Oxfam’s efforts in Yemen, in particular, have led to significant progress in raising awareness and influencing policy.

Through Oxfam’s work on sexual and reproductive health and rights, Qazzaz added: “We built youth networks in six countries to advocate for their rights and lead awareness campaigns, including the right to choose when and whom to marry.”
 

 


Syrians’ asylum requests in Europe drop to decade low

Syrians’ asylum requests in Europe drop to decade low
Updated 05 May 2025
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Syrians’ asylum requests in Europe drop to decade low

Syrians’ asylum requests in Europe drop to decade low
  • Asylum applications filed by Syrians in the European Union dropped to their lowest in over a decade in February following the ouster of Bashar Assad, the EU’s asylum agency said Wednesday

BRUSSELS: Asylum applications filed by Syrians in the European Union dropped to their lowest in over a decade in February following the ouster of Bashar Assad, the EU’s asylum agency said Wednesday.
Data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) showed Syrians lodged 5,000 requests in the 27-nation bloc plus Switzerland and Norway in February, down 34 percent on the previous month.
“The latest asylum figures show how important stability in other regions is for Europe,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU’s migration commissioner.
Longtime Syrian ruler Assad was toppled by Islamist-led rebels in December after more than a decade of civil war.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians who had sought shelter abroad have since returned home, according to the United Nations.
Overall in February, the EU’s 27 states, Switzerland and Norway received about 69,000 asylum applications, following a decreasing trend that started in October 2024, the EUAA said.
Syrians, who long accounted for the most applicants, were the third largest group, behind Venezuelans and Afghans.
France was the main recipient nation, followed by Spain, and Germany — which had been the top destination for years.


UAE schools to teach AI in government schools from kindergarten up

UAE schools to teach AI in government schools from kindergarten up
Updated 05 May 2025
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UAE schools to teach AI in government schools from kindergarten up

UAE schools to teach AI in government schools from kindergarten up

DUBAI: UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid announced on Sunday that artificial intelligence lessons would be introduced for public-school children of all ages starting the next academic year.

In a tweet on X, Sheikh Mohammed wrote that the UAE cabinet had approved “the final curriculum to introduce ‘Artificial Intelligence’ as a subject across all stages of government education in the UAE, from kindergarten to grade 12, starting from the next academic year.

“Our goal is to teach our children a deep understanding of AI from a technical perspective, while also fostering their awareness of the ethics of this new technology,” he continued.

“Our responsibility is to equip our children for a time unlike ours, with conditions different from ours.” 

The step aims to equip students with the essential knowledge and skills to understand AI concepts appropriate for each academic level. 

UAE Minister of Education Sarah Al-Amiri said this integration of AI into classrooms reflects the “UAE government’s future-focused vision,” according to a statement on WAM News Agency.

The UAE will be among the first countries to introduce AI in school curricula, the statement added.

The AI curriculum will cover seven key areas, including foundational concepts, data and algorithms, software use, ethical awareness, real-world applications, innovation and project design, and policies and community engagement. 


Mother and son killed in flash floods in southern Jordan

Mother and son killed in flash floods in southern Jordan
Updated 05 May 2025
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Mother and son killed in flash floods in southern Jordan

Mother and son killed in flash floods in southern Jordan
  • The Belgian pair went missing as heavy rain caused flash floods across the country

JORDAN: The bodies were evacuated from the area, and an official investigation into the incident has been launched to determine the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

A major search and rescue operation had been launched in Jordan after flash floods ripped through vast parts of the country at the weekend.

Hundreds of tourists were evacuated on Sunday as the floodwaters continued to rise.

The Petra Development of Tourism and Region Authority said heavy rain triggered flash floods in the city on Sunday.

A Public Security Directorate spokesman said specialized teams of personnel from Civil Defense, local police directorates, and the Gendarmerie Forces, conducted extensive search operations under what they described as “challenging weather conditions and difficult terrain”.

“Their efforts extended over many hours before the two victims were found deceased”, the report added.

Yazan Mahadin, commissioner of Petra Archaeology Park and Tourism at PDTRA said most of 1,785 tourists that visited on Sunday had been evacuated.

A further 14 who were trapped by floodwaters in the Western Ma’an Police Directorate were rescued uninjured.

Meanwhile a separate team was sent to Tafileh to search for a teenager who went missing while herding sheep in the Hasa area. 

The areas evacuated by the civil defense were Al-Khazneh, the Siq, the Roman Soldier’s Tomb, the Monastery, and the slopes of Prophet Harun.

Ticket sales to all major tourist attractions were suspended as a safety precaution, and the PDTRA is encouraging people to avoid flood paths and low-lying areas.


Lebanese army seizes Captagon pills, equipment at Syrian border

Lebanese army seizes Captagon pills, equipment at Syrian border
Updated 05 May 2025
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Lebanese army seizes Captagon pills, equipment at Syrian border

Lebanese army seizes Captagon pills, equipment at Syrian border

CAIRO: The Lebanese Army seized large quantities of Captagon pills in a raid on a manufacturing plant on the Lebanese-Syrian border, the Lebanese News Agency reported on Monday. 

An army unit, supported by a patrol from the Directorate of Intelligence, seized large quantities of pills in addition to equipment for producing Captagon, along with raw materials used in drug manufacturing. 


Israel plans to capture all of Gaza under new plan, officials say

Israel plans to capture all of Gaza under new plan, officials say
Updated 05 May 2025
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Israel plans to capture all of Gaza under new plan, officials say

Israel plans to capture all of Gaza under new plan, officials say
  • The new plan would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza and likely exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis
  • Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to the be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war
  • The UN accuses Israel of wanting to control aid as a ‘pressure tactic’

TEL AVIV: Israel approved plans on Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, in a move that if implemented would vastly expand Israel’s operations in the Palestinian territory and likely bring fierce international opposition.
Israeli Cabinet ministers approved the plan in an early morning vote, hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.
The new plan, which the officials said was meant to help Israel achieve its war aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza, also would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, what would likely exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50 percent of Gaza. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to the be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war.
The ban on aid has prompted widespread hunger and shortages have set off looting.
Israel is trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas
The Israeli officials said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories.” The plan would also seek to prevent the militant Hamas group from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza. It also accuses Hamas of keeping the aid for itself to bolsters its capabilities. The plan also included powerful strikes against Hamas targets, the officials said.
The officials said Israel was in touch with several countries about President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, under what Israel has termed “voluntary emigration” yet which has sparked condemnations from Israel’s allies in Europe and the Arab world.
One of the officials said the plan would be implemented gradually. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing military plans.
For weeks, Israel has been trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas and prompt it to show more flexibility in ceasefire negotiations. But international mediators trying to bring the sides toward a new deal have struggled to do so. Israel’s measures do not appear to have moved Hamas away from its negotiating positions.
The previous ceasefire was meant to lead the sides to negotiate an end to the war, but that goal has been a repeated sticking point in talks between Israel and Hamas. Israel says it won’t agree to end the war until Hamas is defeated. Hamas meanwhile has demanded an agreement that winds down the war.
Israel’s expansion announcement has angered families of the hostages. The Hostage Forum, which supports families, said on Monday that the plan puts every hostage at risk and urged Israel’s decision-makers to secure a deal and prioritize the hostages.
At a Knesset committee meeting Monday, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage, called on soldiers “not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons.”
Israel wants to prevent Hamas from handling aid
The Israeli officials did not disclose details on how the plan seeks to prevent Hamas from involvement in aid distribution. One said the ministers had approved “the option of aid distribution,” without elaborating.
According to an internal memo circulated among aid groups and seen by The Associated Press, Israel told the United Nations that it will use private security companies to control aid distribution in Gaza. The UN, in a statement Sunday, said it would not participate in the plan as presented to it, saying it violates its core principles.
The memo, sent to aid organizations on Sunday, detailed notes from a meeting between the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT and the UN.
Under COGAT’s plan, all aid will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, letting approximately 60 trucks enter daily and distributing 20 kilograms of aid parcels directly to people on the day of entry, although their contents were unclear as was how many people will have access to the aid.
The memo said the aid will be distributed at logistics hubs, which will be run by private security companies. The memo said that facial recognition will be used to identify Palestinians at the hubs and SMS alerts will notify people in the area that they can collect aid.
Aid workers say the plan to centralize aid, rather than delivering it to Palestinians where they are, will forcibly displace people.
The fighting has displaced more than 90 percent of Gaza’s population, often multiple times, and turned Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape.
The UN accuses Israel of wanting to control aid as a ‘pressure tactic’
The UN said the plan would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies. It said the plan “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy.”
The memo says that the US government has voiced clear support for Israel’s plan, but it’s unclear who would provide funding for the private military companies or the aid.
COGAT and the US Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, the AP obtained dozens of documents about aid groups’ concerns that the hubs could end up permanently displacing Palestinians and forcing them to live in “de facto internment conditions”.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza continued overnight, killing at least 17 people in northern Gaza, according to hospital staff. Strikes hit Gaza City, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and among the dead were eight women and children, according to staff at the Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, although about 35 are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war and withdrew troops and settlers in 2005. Two years later, Hamas took over and has controlled the territory since.