Unicef Estimates 100 Million Children Have Early Marriage, Deputy Chairperson Of MPR: Needs Serious Attention From Many Parties

Deputy Chairperson of the MPR RI, Lestari Moerdijat (Photo; Instagram; @lestari moerdijat)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of the MPR RI Lestari Moerdijat said stakeholders must pay serious attention to the rise of cases of early marriage so that the quality of Indonesia's human resources can continue to be improved to answer the nation's challenges in the future.

"In the midst of efforts to make this nation have an advantage over other nations, the rise of child marriage in the country must be a serious concern from stakeholders," said Lestari Moerdijat in a written statement quoted by Antara, Sunday, March 13.

Unicef data before the COVID-19 pandemic estimated that 100 million children in the world would undergo forced marriage over the next 10 years. This figure is predicted to increase by up to 10 percent from the current data.

Lestari Moerdijat antas mentioned a number of factors behind the high number of cases of child marriage in Indonesia, including education, low socioeconomic status, relatively little information about the risks of early marriage, and misperceptions about early marriage are also spreading on social media.

According to Lestari, the many factors that influence the occurrence of child marriage require serious attention from many parties to immediately take strategic steps to overcome a number of these obstacles.

"In addition to affecting the nation's future due to the disruption of efforts to improve the quality of human resources, the marriage of children under 19 is a violation of the law," she said.

She emphasized that the practice was not in accordance with Law Number 16 of 2019 concerning Amendments to Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage.

On the other hand, according to her, child marriage reaps high health risks for young mothers, their children, as well as psychological aspects.

Lestari said that the high health risk in child marriage should encourage stakeholders to immediately address this threat through massive and sustainable efforts to suppress the emergence of triggering factors.