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Bangladesh child marriage: UNICEF chief Catherine Russell calls for end as 47% of women wed before 18

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Bangladesh child marriage must end and girls must be kept in school, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said on 20 October 2026 after a three-day visit to the country, UN News reported. Nearly half, 47.2 per cent, of women in Bangladesh aged 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18, according to the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2025.

Bangladesh child marriage: Nearly one in two girls is married before age 18 in Bangladesh, putting her education, health and future at risk (file photo)
Nearly one in two girls is married before age 18 in Bangladesh, putting her education, health and future at risk (file photo) Photo: UNICEF/Vlad Sokhin via UN News (editorial use with credit).

UNICEF sets out three priorities on Bangladesh child marriage

Russell urged action on three fronts: ending child marriage and keeping girls in school; delivering on the government’s commitment to invest five per cent of the country’s gross domestic product in both education and health; and protecting quality learning for Rohingya refugee and host-community children. “Keeping girls in school and providing them with the health, education and protection services they need will deliver a brighter future for them, for their communities, and for Bangladesh,” she said. UNICEF says child marriage drives girls out of school, fuels early pregnancy and narrows lifelong opportunities, and it wants girls to complete secondary school and loopholes in national law that still permit child marriage to be closed.

Key Facts

  • Women aged 20-24 married before 18: 47.2% (MICS 2025)
  • Visit: three days, ending 20 October 2026
  • Ask: 5% of GDP each for education and health
  • Sites visited: Korail (Dhaka) and Cox’s Bazar
  • Focus: ending child marriage, keeping girls in school, Rohingya learning

“Budgets reflect priorities. Investing in children's quality education, health, nutrition and protection is investing in Bangladesh's future.”

— Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director

Stories from Korail and a child protection hub

During the visit, Russell heard the story of Bushra, who at 14 faced being married off until community leaders at a UNICEF-supported child protection hub worked with her father to stop it. In Korail, Dhaka’s largest informal settlement, she heard from children and parents about how poverty, disrupted schooling and limited basic services have affected their lives, and adolescent girls described their ambitions and the pressures that can push them out of school and into marriage. Meeting senior officials, including State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, Russell welcomed the government’s commitment to raise spending on education and health but stressed that promises must become action. “Budgets reflect priorities,” she said.

Rohingya children in Cox's Bazar

In Cox’s Bazar, home to one of the largest refugee camps in the world, Russell met Rohingya children and families and visited a UNICEF-supported learning centre where students and teachers talked about the value of education and vocational skills. Education also protects children from exploitation, trafficking, child marriage and recruitment by armed groups, UNICEF said. “Rohingya children have lost so much to violence, displacement and uncertainty. They cannot lose their education too,” Russell said, calling on the world to invest in them and in the communities that welcomed them. Recognising Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting the refugees, she warned that as humanitarian funding declines, sustained international support is critical to protect essential services for both refugee and host-community children.

Why It Matters: With nearly half of young women married as children, UNICEF sees keeping girls in school as central to Bangladesh's future, and falling aid puts that work at risk.

Also on TrendDesh: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2026: UN says 2.8 billion people lack adequate housing · Gaza children: UNICEF says more than 340 killed since the ceasefire was announced a year ago

Source: UN News, 20 Oct 2026 · UNICEF Bangladesh · Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (MICS)

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