unifem afghanistan fact sheet 2009 Fact Sheet

Marriage

  • Women head 1.8% of households in rural and nomadic areas and 2.4% in urban areas (2005) [MoWA]
  • An estimated 60 - 80% of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan (2007) [HDR 07]
  • The mean age at marriage in Afghanistan is about 17.8 years for women and 25.3 years for men [UNFPA]
  • The mean age at first marriage of women is 17.9 years. Nine percent of women aged 20-49 were married before reaching age 15. This proportion has declined to three percent for those currently aged 15-19 [NRVA 2007/8 ]
  • 57% of girls who are married do so before the legal age of 16 (2006) [IRIN]

Widows

  • There are 1 million widows in Afghanistan [Zalesne]
  • In Kabul, the estimated 30,000 to 50,000 war widows are approximately 35 years old. 94% are unable to read and write and about 90% have children (2005) [Zalense]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to top

Contents

unifemUNIFEM is the women’s fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and economic security worldwide.
UNIFEM International »