Sudurpaschim spends millions to fight child marriage, yet the practice persists
Summary
Despite years of government and NGO spending, child marriage remains widespread in Sudurpaschim, where many girls are still forced out of school and into early motherhood. Officials say the province has no proper system to measure whether prevention campaigns are actually working.
Key Points
- A 23-year-old woman from Doti and another young mother described how child marriage ended their education and left them economically dependent and vulnerable to abuse.
- Police records show only 36 child marriage cases in Sudurpaschim between fiscal years 2020-21 and 2025-26, even though the 2021 census found 29.1 percent of marriages in the province involved child marriage.
- The provincial government spent Rs12.87 million over five fiscal years on prevention programmes, but officials admit there is no baseline or mechanism to measure impact.
- NGO PeaceWin says it spends over Rs10 million a year on prevention work across several districts and claims to have helped stop 32 child marriages.
