Two in Five Nigerian Women Married Before Age 18, Says UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over the high 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 disclosed that six in 10 Nigerian children have experienced some form of abuse.

UNICEF made these revelations while unveiling plans to strengthen its child protection interventions by placing child abuse, child marriage, and poor birth registration at the centre of its 2028–2032 Country Programme.

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, stressed that future interventions must be driven by evidence rather than programme outputs alone.

According to her presentation, official national data show that six in 10 Nigerian children experience some form of abuse, while only two in five children under the age of five have their births registered, with significant disparities between urban and rural communities. She also noted that two in five young women in Nigeria were married before the age of 18, underscoring the need for stronger action.

“The urgency is clear. Official national data show that six in 10 children experience some form of abuse, only two in five children under the age of five have their births registered, and two in five young women were married before the age of 18.

“These figures are not merely statistics. They represent children whose safety, identity, education, health, and future opportunities are at risk,” she said.

McCauley explained that UNICEF is repositioning its child protection programme to focus on measurable improvements in children’s lives rather than simply reporting completed activities.

“A review is not simply an exercise in reporting activities or presenting numbers. It is about asking whether our work is changing children’s lives, whether the children facing the greatest risks are being reached, and whether the systems around them are becoming stronger, more accessible, and more accountable,” she said.

She noted that UNICEF-supported programmes made significant progress in 2025 by strengthening the frontline child protection workforce, expanding community child protection structures, supporting nearly 120,000 children with protection services, accelerating birth registration, and enabling more than 1,000 children to leave detention through diversion and other non-custodial measures.

Despite these achievements, she warned that national results often conceal deep inequalities affecting children in rural, conflict-affected, and other vulnerable communities.

“A national result can conceal deep subnational disparities. A target can be achieved while the child in a remote community, the adolescent girl facing multiple risks, the child with a disability, the child on the move, or the child affected by conflict remains beyond the reach of services. Our task today is therefore not only to ask, ‘What did we deliver?’ but also, ‘Who did we not reach, and why?'” she said.

McCauley explained that UNICEF’s Strategic Plan for 2026–2029, described as the organisation’s final push towards achieving the child-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, requires programmes to become more focused and deliver results at scale.

“We cannot attempt to do everything, everywhere, in the same way. We must identify the most severe deprivations, the locations where risks are concentrated, the solutions with proven effectiveness, and the partnerships and financing needed to scale those solutions,” she said.

She stressed that child protection should no longer be viewed as a stand-alone sector but as a prerequisite for national development.

“Protection is not an add-on to development; it is one of the conditions that makes development possible. A child who is afraid at home cannot thrive. A girl married too early is less likely to remain in school. A child without a legal identity may be excluded from health, education, and social protection,” she added.

Addressing government officials and development partners, McCauley said UNICEF was seeking genuine collaboration in designing its next country programme rather than endorsement of predetermined priorities.

“This consultation is not intended to seek endorsement of a plan that has already been written. It is an invitation to shape the next programme together. We need your challenge as much as your validation. We need to know what the evidence gets right, what it misses, which bottlenecks are most decisive, and which solutions can realistically be taken to scale,” she said.

She added that the next programme would focus on strengthening government institutions, expanding the social welfare workforce, mobilising domestic financing, and improving access to quality child protection services across Nigeria.

McCauley also called for stronger collaboration across sectors, noting that child protection cannot be addressed in isolation.

“A child does not experience life in sectors. The same girl may be out of school, at risk of child marriage, without a birth certificate, affected by malnutrition, and living in a household under severe economic pressure. No single ministry, UNICEF section, or organisation can address these deprivations alone,” she said.

She explained that stronger coordination should include integrated frontline services, shared geographic targeting, interoperable data systems, effective referral pathways, and joint accountability among government institutions and development partners.