Ending child marriage part of Sustainable Development Goals

KUALA LUMPUR - Putting an end to child marriage in the country is part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

UNICEF Malaysia chief of Child Protection Saskia Blume said child marriage was not simply an issue in Malaysia, but a global issue that was affecting all races, religions, and communities.

"Child marriage is a part of SDG and Malaysia is addressing how to end it," she said at the Human Rights Day Forum 2022 at the Royale Chulan Hotel, here, today.

She thanked the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry for helping Unicef in its effort to ban child marriage in the country.

She said child marriage was influenced by a number of factors including undocumented status, poverty, and social norms that support the practice, among others.

"These kids are from lower-income families, and they don’t have proper education," she said in her speech.

She said there were key areas of recommendations that could be implemented to confront the issue, such as raising the minimum age of marriage, addressing social and cultural norms, reducing poverty, and providing an inclusive education.

"Education is important for children, not marriage," she said.

There were around 350 participants who attended the Human Rights Day Forum 2022 physically today while 150 attended it online.

The forum emphasised on human rights, to achieve freedom, dignity and justice.