Report on the Escalation of Child Marriage in Pakistan Following Climate-Induced Disasters

Executive Summary

This report examines the significant increase in child marriage in Pakistan, particularly in the province of Balochistan, following the devastating floods of 2022. The crisis is analyzed through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demonstrating how climate change impacts are severely undermining progress on gender equality, poverty reduction, health, and education. The floods have exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, forcing families into extreme poverty and leading them to use child marriage as a survival strategy. This practice constitutes a grave violation of human rights and poses a substantial threat to the achievement of several key SDGs.

1. Climate Change as a Driver of Human Rights Violations (SDG 13, SDG 1, SDG 2)

The 2022 floods in Pakistan, intensified by climate change, have created a humanitarian crisis that directly impedes the attainment of multiple SDGs.

1.1. Economic Devastation and Poverty (SDG 1: No Poverty)

The floods displaced over 1.5 million people in Balochistan, destroying homes, infrastructure, and agricultural land. This has plunged families into extreme poverty, directly contravening the goals of SDG 1.

• Loss of livelihoods, particularly for daily wage laborers and farmers.
• Accumulation of crushing debt from moneylenders to rebuild shelters and purchase food.
• Families are forced to liquidate assets, including marrying off daughters, for immediate financial relief.

1.2. Food Insecurity and Survival (SDG 2: Zero Hunger)

The destruction of farmland has led to severe food insecurity. Child marriage is increasingly used as a mechanism to cope with hunger, undermining SDG 2.

• Families marry off daughters to reduce the number of household members to feed.
• Bride prices, sometimes as low as US$360 or traded for livestock, are used to purchase food.

2. Child Marriage: A Setback for Gender Equality and Education (SDG 5, SDG 4)

The crisis disproportionately affects young girls, reversing progress on gender equality and access to education.

2.1. Violation of Girls’ Rights (SDG 5: Gender Equality)

The spike in child marriage is a direct violation of SDG Target 5.3, which aims to eliminate all harmful practices such as child, early, and forced marriage. Girls are treated as commodities to settle debts or secure family survival.

• A 2023 survey reported a 15% increase in underage marriages in flood-affected regions.
• Girls as young as 12 are being married to significantly older men.
• The practice reinforces gender inequality and lifetime economic dependence for women.

2.2. Disruption of Education (SDG 4: Quality Education)

Child marriage abruptly ends a girl’s education, denying her the right to learn and fulfill her potential, which is a core objective of SDG 4.

1. Married girls are forced to drop out of school to assume domestic and marital responsibilities.
2. The loss of education perpetuates a cycle of poverty and disempowerment across generations.
3. Organizations providing education, such as Alsama for Syrian refugees, demonstrate that schooling offers a viable alternative path to security and dignity, highlighting the critical need for similar interventions in Pakistan.

3. Health and Institutional Failures (SDG 3, SDG 16)

The consequences of child marriage are severe, impacting health outcomes and exposing weaknesses in legal and institutional frameworks.

3.1. Health Consequences (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being)

Early marriage and pregnancy pose significant health risks to young girls, challenging the progress of SDG 3.

• Increased risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
• High maternal mortality rates; a study after the 2010 floods found rates as high as 381 per 100,000 live births in some regions.
• Psychological trauma resulting from forced marriage and the premature assumption of adult roles.

3.2. Legal and Institutional Gaps (SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)

The lack of robust legal protection and enforcement mechanisms for children in Balochistan undermines SDG 16.

• Balochistan has not enacted a law comparable to the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, which sets the legal marriage age at 18.
• Pakistan has not signed the UN Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages.
• The absence of strong provincial laws and enforcement leaves girls vulnerable to social and economic pressures.

4. Multi-Pronged Solutions for Sustainable Development

Addressing the crisis requires an integrated approach that targets the root causes and aligns with the overarching framework of the SDGs.

Recommendations:

1. Strengthen Legal Frameworks (SDG 16, SDG 5): Enact and enforce provincial laws in Balochistan to set the minimum age of marriage at 18 for all, with clear enforcement mechanisms.
2. Promote Economic Recovery (SDG 1, SDG 8): Implement programs that rebuild livelihoods, provide vocational training, and offer financial support to flood-affected families to reduce their economic vulnerability.
3. Ensure Access to Education and Safe Spaces (SDG 4, SDG 5): Invest in girls’ education as a direct alternative to marriage and establish safe shelters and support systems through grassroots organizations.
4. Integrate Child Protection into Climate Action (SDG 13): Incorporate child protection measures into all disaster relief and climate adaptation strategies to ensure the rights and futures of children are not the cost of climate crises.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty – The article directly links the rise in child marriages to the “deepening poverty” and “crushing debt” faced by families after the floods destroyed their homes and livelihoods.
• SDG 2: Zero Hunger – The article mentions that families marry off their daughters to “buy food or simply reduce the number of mouths to feed,” highlighting the issue of food insecurity as a direct driver of child marriage.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – The text discusses the severe health consequences of child marriage, including “early pregnancies that endanger both mother and child” and high “maternal mortality rates.”
• SDG 4: Quality Education – The article shows how child marriage forces girls to abandon their education, as seen with Sumaira who “dropped out of school” and Shaista whose “dreams of becoming a doctor have faded.” It also presents education as a key alternative.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality – The core issue of the article is child marriage, a harmful practice that disproportionately affects girls and is described as a “violation of rights” where girls are treated like “assets being liquidated.”
• SDG 13: Climate Action – The article establishes a clear link between the floods and “climate change,” stating they were “driven by record-breaking monsoon rains and accelerated glacial melt.” It calls for integrating child protection into “climate adaptation and disaster relief programs.”
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions – The article points to “legal gaps” and the absence of strong laws against child marriage in Balochistan. It highlights the need for “legal reform” and better enforcement mechanisms to protect children.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 1: No Poverty
  • Target 1.5: Build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events. The article describes how families who “lost everything” in the floods are forced into desperate measures like child marriage, demonstrating a lack of resilience to climate-related disasters.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
  • Target 3.1: Reduce the global maternal mortality ratio. The article explicitly mentions that after previous floods, “maternal mortality rates in some affected regions were as high as 381 per 100,000 live births,” a direct measure related to this target.
  • Target 3.7: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services. The article implies a lack of access to care, noting that young brides “face dangerous pregnancies, and many have no access to medical care.”
• SDG 4: Quality Education
  • Target 4.1: Ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. The stories of Shaista and Sumaira, who had to abandon their education for marriage, show a failure to meet this target.
  • Target 4.5: Eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education for the vulnerable. The article highlights how girls are disproportionately affected, losing their educational opportunities, while presenting organizations like Alsama that show education can be an “alternative path to security and dignity” for girls.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
  • Target 5.3: Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage. The entire article is centered on the increase of child marriage in Pakistan, describing it as a harmful practice used as a “means of survival.”
• SDG 13: Climate Action
  • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters. The article demonstrates how the 2022 floods, linked to climate change, overwhelmed communities, leading to a humanitarian crisis and a spike in child marriages, indicating a low adaptive capacity.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
  • Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. Child marriage is presented as a form of exploitation, where “girls are married off like assets being liquidated.”

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Prevalence of Child Marriage: The article cites a survey by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority reporting a “15% spike in underage marriages in flood-affected regions.” This directly measures progress (or lack thereof) towards Target 5.3. The specific ages mentioned (10, 12, 13, 14) also serve as qualitative indicators of the severity of the issue. This relates to official indicator 5.3.1 (Proportion of women married before age 18).
• Maternal Mortality Ratio: The article provides a specific statistic from a past study: “maternal mortality rates in some affected regions were as high as 381 per 100,000 live births.” This is a direct use of Indicator 3.1.1 (Maternal mortality ratio) to highlight the health risks associated with child marriage.
• Number of People Affected by Disasters: The article states that the 2022 floods “displaced over 1.5 million people.” This figure can be used as part of Indicator 1.5.1 (Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population) to measure the scale of the climate-related event’s impact.
• School Dropout Rates for Girls: While not providing a specific number, the article implies an increase in school dropouts through the personal stories of Sumaira, who “dropped out of school,” and Shaista, whose “dreams of becoming a doctor have faded.” This serves as an implied indicator for targets related to education (SDG 4).

4. SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: news-decoder.com