UNICEF chief says 47.2 per cent of young Bangladeshi women were married before eighteen

20 October 2026

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for urgent investment in Bangladesh's children at the end of a three-day visit. She cited the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2025, which found that 47.2 per cent of women aged 20 to 24 in Bangladesh were married before the age of 18, or nearly one in two girls. She set out three priorities: ending child marriage and keeping girls in school, meeting the government's pledge to invest 5 per cent of gross domestic product in education and health, and protecting quality learning for Rohingya refugee and host-community children. UNICEF called for girls to complete secondary school and for loopholes in national law that permit child marriage to be closed. Russell visited Korail, Dhaka's largest informal settlement, and Cox's Bazar, home to one of the world's largest refugee camps, where she met Rohingya families and visited a UNICEF-supported learning centre. She met State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam and welcomed the commitment to increase education and health spending.