The Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare has vowed to work closely with civil society to end child marriage by 2030.

The ministry made such pledge at an event that was organised to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, which is observed on October 11. The three-day event concluded on Sunday.

“We have the constitutional, policy-related, legal and structural foundations to address various issues related to adolescents. A National Action Plan on Adolescents is in process of being finalised. Following the launch of National End Child Marriage Strategy, various initiatives have also been taking place towards ending child marriage,” Bishnu Prasad Lamsal, the ministry secretary, told the event.

According to Girls not Brides, an organisation working to end child marriage, 37 percent of Nepali girls are married before the age of 18. Even though the legal age of marriage is 20 years for both men and women, about 29 percent of the marriages in the country still happen between girls and boys under the age of 18.

Children rights workers say there is a challenge in enforcing the laws on underage marriage in the country because our society easily accept a marriage involving minor brides.

The tradition of child marriage has been trapping girls in the vicious cycle of violence and thereby thwarting their hope of bright future.

Globally, more  than  14  million  girls  marry  each  year  as  children  (under  the  age  of  18), and many of them are under the age of 15.

Over 700 million women alive today were married as children. Almost half of them live in South Asia.

Overall 46 percent of women aged 20-24 in South Asia were married before the age of 18, and 130 million girls are likely to marry as children between  2010 and 2030.