It’s been years since there has been a rainy season in some parts of Ethiopia. Water sources have dried up. Crops can no longer grow in the parched earth. Livestock are dying. Millions of people are going hungry. And hunger is not the only threat – as the crisis escalates, more girls are at risk of child marriage.
Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with an estimated 40 per cent of girls marrying before the age of 18. And in areas experiencing extended periods of drought – a symptom of the climate crisis – there has recently been a dramatic increase in girls being forced to marry while they are still children.