By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Nine of the 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are in Africa, according to a report released ahead of International Women’s Day.

“If current trends continue, almost half of the world’s child brides in 2050 will be African,” according to the report by the African Union, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Women.

Released at a meeting held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday, it underlined that 125 million African women and girls living today were married before the age of 18.

“Child marriage has a disproportionately negative impact on women and girls and is often justified on traditional, religious, cultural or economic grounds,” it warned.

According to the report, only five countries in Africa have an absolute legal prohibition on child marriage.

Other topics addressed include discriminatory laws against women, denial of economic, social and cultural rights, female genital mutilation, sexual and gender based violence as well as sexual and reproductive health.

Among a list of recommendations, the report calls on African governments to encourage women’s full and productive employment, to recognize the importance of unpaid care and domestic work, and to ensure women can access and control their own economic and financial resources.