The New York Times reports that the pandemic has worsened economic distress and other factors that lead to such unions. Studies show a clear link between marrying early and dying young.

In Nepal, the impact of coronavirus led to many schools' closures. Sapana is a 17-year-old girl who once dreamed to be a government official, now being stuck in her little village with an out-of-work laborer. They fell in love. Soon they married. Now, Sapana has given up her professional dreams, with no plans to return to school.

What happened to Sapana in a small town in Nepal is happening to girls across the developing world. Child marriage is increasing at alarming levels in many places, the United Nations says, and the coronavirus pandemic is reversing years of hard-earned progress toward keeping young women in school.

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