Mozambican population may reach 60 million in the next three decades - AIM
Mozambique: In Nampula province, 18% of girls marry before 15, 56% before 18 — UNICEF
12:33 CAT | 23 Sep 2025
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]
UNICEF estimates that 56% of girls in Nampula province, northern Mozambique, marry before the age of 18, and of this group, 18% marry before the age of 15, the organization revealed, reiterating its support against forced unions in the region.
According to a note from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which Lusa accessed on Tuesday, Mozambique has “one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world,” with 48% of girls marrying before the age of 18 nationally.
“But in Nampula province, this number rises to 56%, and, surprisingly, 18% marry before the age of 15,” it states.
Among girls without access to education, UNICEF estimates that 56% become pregnant as teenagers, and 64% of those who only completed primary school were married as children.
“UNICEF works with partners to help the girls behind these statistics—investing in their education, engaging parents, community leaders, and communities in protection against forced unions and violence, and connecting them to services that can help change these numbers,” the document adds.
In August, the United Nations supported the issuance of birth certificates to more than 16,000 people affected by recent cyclones in Nampula province to help end child marriage in the region.
“Birth certificates play a fundamental role in protecting children from child marriage by providing legal proof of their age, and also in accessing basic services such as education, health care, and social protection,” a UNICEF statement said.
Mozambique has the fourth-highest teenage birth rate in the world among girls aged 15 to 19, according to a United Nations report that predicts the country’s population will double in 25 years.
According to the report State of World Population 2025, presented in Maputo in July by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the adolescent birth rate from 2001 to 2024 reached 158 per 1,000 Mozambican girls—behind only the Central African Republic (184), Equatorial Guinea (176), and Angola (163).
Furthermore, UNFPA highlights the high rate of child marriage, which affects nearly half of all girls (48%), and the number of women who give birth for the first time before the age of 18.
#Mozambique has one of the highest rates of #ChildMarriage in the 🌍
UNICEF is reaching the girls behind these statistics. Investing in their education, engaging their parents in protecting them from forced unions & violence, connecting them to services can change these figures. pic.twitter.com/YuKLiKlvZm
— UNICEF Moçambique (@UNICEF_Moz) September 22, 2025
Source: Lusa
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