The situational analysis report on teen pregnancies in Kenya shows that nearly 60 per cent of child marriages are driven by poverty.
The survey reveals that teenage pregnancies are also contributing to child marriage at 49 per cent, highlighting an urgent need for targeted interventions to protect vulnerable adolescents.
Lack of access to education, cultural traditions like FGM and social norms are also factors at 42, 25 and 22 per cent respectively.
Child marriage rates are especially pronounced in Garissa, where 43 per cent of cases were reported, followed by Turkana at 38 per cent, Nairobi at 22 per cent, and Meru at 14 per cent.
Although Kenya's legal minimum age for marriage is 18, the survey shows that nearly one in 10 girls aged 14 and younger have already been subjected to child marriage.
