A 14-year-old schoolgirl in Bangladesh poses with friends and neighbors on her wedding day. A new UNESCO report looks at progress — and the lack thereof — in ending child marriage. Sultan Mahmud Mukut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption
Giving a lesson at the home of a girl in Cali, Colombia, in August 2020, a teacher wears a biosecurity suit to prevent infection from the novel coronavirus. The "teacher at home" program aimed to help students stay in touch with teachers during pandemic school shutdowns. Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
An Afghan woman walks with a child in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 28, 2022. A newly released report from Amnesty International, "Death in Slow Motion," focuses on a range of issues affecting girls and women. Foremost among them are child and forced marriage. Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Married at 15, Chakraman Shreshta Balami fulfilled his dying father's wish by getting married — at age 15. He had to give up his dream of becoming a doctor. Now the vice principal of Sri Bhavani government school, he campaigns against child marriage — but even his son was married as a teenager. Above, he poses with a grandchild. Stephanie Sinclair for NPR hide caption
Komal Rana, 19, a student in the Veerni Institute program, has faced pressure to marry since India's pandemic lockdown forced her to return home to her hamlet of Jhalamand near Jodhpur. Mahender Singh Deora/Veerni Institute hide caption
A child bride, age 14, participated in wedding rituals in a Hindu temple in India's Madhya Pradesh state in 2017. An estimated 1.5 million underage girls marry each year in India, according to the United Nations. The pandemic appears to be causing a spike in numbers. Prakash Hatvalne/AP hide caption
Saleh Abbas, deputy grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, is second from the left in this photo of members of the university delegation to the African Summit on Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriages. Louis Leeson hide caption
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Friday that it was implementing new guidelines to identify minors in spousal and fiancée visas. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption
Bhanwari Devi worked for her local municipality in rural Rajasthan, northern India, when she says she was gang-raped in 1992 by higher-caste men in the area, allegedly because they disapproved of her campaign to end child marriage. Her case went all the way to India's Supreme Court and led to the country's first workplace sexual harassment guidelines. Furkan Latif Khan/NPR hide caption
Sakshi Satpathy at the U.N.'s headquarters in March. On Thursday, she received an award from the Girl Scouts at the U.N. for her work to fight child marriage and human trafficking. Courtesy of Sakshi Satpathy hide caption
Ya Kaka, left, and Hauwa, right, who were captured by Boko Haram in 2014, pose with Statue of Liberty impersonators in Times Square. Stephanie Sinclair/Too Young to Wed hide caption
Donna Pollard on her wedding day, when she was 16. Courtesy of Donna Pollard hide caption
Durga, now 22, was married in her northern Indian village at the age of 15. Her father forced her into the marriage. But he had a change of heart right after the wedding and refused to send her to her husband. After much careful diplomacy, he managed to dissolve the union. Swati Vashishtha for NPR hide caption
The modest proposal: Keep your daughter in school for two years and don't marry her off and you'll get a goat or two chickens. The animals pictured above live in Ethiopia, where the strategy to stop child marriage was tested. David Cayless/Getty Images hide caption
Graciela Garcia, 19, married her high school friend, Jaime, when she was 15. Natasha Pizzey hide caption
Durga has just earned her undergraduate degree. Because of her accomplishment, the groom and his family have said they no longer consider her a good match. "They are scared of an educated bride," says Durga's father, Lumbaram. Swati Vashishtha for NPR hide caption
Angelique Kidjo lends her Grammy-winning voice to a new song that protests child marriage. Al Pereira/WireImage hide caption
Jenipher Sanni at the Girl Up Summit in Washington, D.C. Shuyao Chen/NPR hide caption
Sulmi, 14, of Guatemala was 9 months pregnant when this photo was taken. "I was a little sad to be married so young," she says. "I am in the youngest in my family to be in a union. Getting married is a lot better and prettier because you get to wear a big white dress." Stephanie Sinclair/ Too Young to Wed hide caption
tk Courtesy Too Young To Wed hide caption
Halima Aden wore a navy blue, embroidered burkini -- a full-body bathing suit -- during the swimsuit competition. Courtesy of Future Productions LLC hide caption