EMBARGOED UNTIL 6AM, Tuesday 6 October 2026
Press release
Every kind of climate shock is putting girls at risk of child marriage, violence and teen pregnancy, major global study finds
Climate disasters are driving greater risks of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and violence for girls, according to new global research from Plan International.
The study combines a large-scale analysis of health and climate data spanning nearly 50 countries over three decades with a survey of 5,000 girls, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 139 girls, across Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.
The study found that climate disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and extreme heat are destroying the health and education services girls depend on at the precise moment they need them most, with the consequences falling hardest on girls who already have the least.
Key findings of the report include:
- One in 10 girls said they had personally experienced an unintended pregnancy following a climate-related event, while 33% reported an increase in unintended pregnancies in their community.
- One in 10 girls said they had personally married before the age of 18, and 36% reported seeing more girls married or in a union before they turned 18 in their community following climate-related disasters.
- More than a quarter (28%) of girls said they had observed an increase in violence against women and girls following climate-related events.
- Nine in 10 girls said climate-related events were placing serious pressure on their family's survival, health, and stability.
- More than three-quarters (76%) of girls said more girls and young women in their community were struggling to access at least one health service, rising to 84% among those affected by drought.
- Girls from minority communities were twice as likely to struggle to access services, nearly three times as likely to report an unintended pregnancy, and more than twice as likely to face pressure to marry young.
Behind many of these consequences lies a simple but devastating reality: climate shocks are pulling girls out of school. When education is disrupted, girls lose the single most protective factor in their lives, making them significantly more vulnerable to exploitation, violence, early marriage, and lost access to health services.
“The climate crisis has no borders, and for girls it is having a profound and disproportionate effect on their education, their risks of violence, child and early forced marriage and exploitation, and their reproductive health. We are watching this play out in front of eyes this very moment: in Nepal, where catastrophic floods have caused more than a thousand deaths and lead to tens of thousands of girls living in makeshift shelters, with no prospect of returning to school anytime soon. Or in Somalia, where millions of people – mostly women and children – who have been displaced by prolonged drought are now facing the wrath of a supersized El Niño," said Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International Australia.
Girls reported increased risks of sexual exploitation in the aftermath of climate shocks, including being pressured into exchanging sex for money or basic necessities as protection systems and support networks break down. Girls also reported heightened danger in emergency shelters, where cramped conditions and darkness left them exposed to harassment and sexual violence.
"When floods leave people completely destitute, families think about financial hardship and marry off girls at a very young age," said Shahina, 19, from Bangladesh. Participants in the study described girls becoming pregnant from as young as 12 and 13 in Peru, with girls in Zimbabwe noting pregnancy among girls still in primary and early secondary school.
Almost half of girls (49%) noticed more pregnancy health or childbirth related complications, including miscarriages, in their community following a climate shock. Nearly one in four said access to healthcare during pregnancy and delivery care became harder to reach.
The research also identifies a form of climate harm that is almost entirely absent from disaster planning. Slow-onset drought destroys the household economies that keep girls out of marriage.
Across 52 countries and three decades, prolonged drought emerged as the hazard most consistently associated with rising rates of child marriage and early unions, as families lose harvests, livestock, and income over months and years until marrying a daughter becomes a survival strategy.
"My father has no livestock to sell and take me to college, that's how I accepted to be married off," said Galgalo, a 22-year-old participant from Kenya.
Because slow-onset drought rarely triggers an emergency response, this damage accumulates unseen. Girls whose schooling was disrupted were twice as likely to marry young or face an unintended pregnancy. A secondary analysis spanning nearly 50 countries across three decades confirmed that uninterrupted education is the single most consistent protective factor against early marriage and violence.
The findings highlight how climate-related disasters are exacerbating existing inequalities and vulnerabilities for girls, increasing risks to their health, safety, and wellbeing. This year, the El Niño weather pattern is intensifying weather extremes across the globe and predictions expect it to be the most powerful in decades.
In Peru, girls described how recurring El Niño floods disrupted access to health services, cut off transport routes, and increased pressure on already struggling families. With El Niño conditions projected to intensify further in the coming months, the window to act before these impacts deepen is narrowing.
With the world's attention soon to turn to COP31, where countries have an opportunity to negotiate international action on climate change, Plan International is calling on governments and donors to act:
- Keep schools open and free during climate shocks - education is the single most consistent protective factor across three decades of data, and girls whose schooling is disrupted are twice as likely to marry young or face an unintended pregnancy.
- Allocate a defined share of climate adaptation finance to adolescent girls' health, including sexual and reproductive health services, contraception, and maternity care.
- Include menstrual products, contraception, and protection services in every emergency response package, not as a later stage intervention
- Reach the most marginalised girls. Girls from minority communities, those with disabilities, and those already displaced face the greatest barriers and receive the least support.
“We know what puts girls at risk, and we know what helps protect them,” Ms Legena added.
“The Australian Government and other donors have both the means and the responsibility to act on the climate crisis. The science is clear, and the solutions are known. Only half of national climate plans mention girls’ or women’s health, and despite the escalating impact of climate shocks on the health systems and services girls rely on, just 0.5% of multilateral climate finance supports health. The time for talk is over. Now we need to put real money to powering action. And we must stop approving the coal and gas projects that are fuelling climate change in the first place.
“Girls cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought in climate action. They must have a meaningful say in the decisions that shape their lives, and their rights and needs must be built into climate policy and financing from the outset,” she said.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Please find the report here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eszt66nANh6OwPnIxTpoWH5SZIi0xwph?usp=sharing
About the research: The study combined a secondary analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data matched to climate hazard data across 52 low- and middle-income countries over three decades with primary mixed-methods data collection in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. Primary data collection included a survey of 5,000 girls and young women aged 15 to 24 in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal, and Zimbabwe, alongside face-to-face interviews and focus groups with 139 girls and young women on climate-vulnerable communities across the same five countries.
Services examined: The research examined how climate events affect access to health services including menstrual health, maternity care, counselling, contraception, protection services, and sexual health education. Four climate event types were examined: drought, flooding, extreme heat, and cyclones or storms.
Nepal and this report: Nepal is among the 52 low- and middle-income countries included in this report’s secondary analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data matched to climate hazard trends over three decades. That analysis found prolonged drought and climate shocks to be strongly and consistently linked to rising rates of child marriage. Nepal was not one of the five countries in the primary survey and focus group research (Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, Senegal, and Zimbabwe). The country is currently living through the pattern the report identifies. Catastrophic flash floods in August 2026 killed more than 1,300 people, displaced tens of thousands, and disrupted schooling for thousands of children, conditions Plan International's global research links directly to heightened risk of child marriage, exploitation, and violence against girls. Srijana Gurung, Acting Country Director, Plan International Nepal, is available for interview on the floods and their impact on girls.
Spokespeople:
- Susanne Legena, CEO, Plan International Australia
- Hayley Cull, Deputy CEO, Plan International Australia (just arrived back from flood-impacted region of Nepal)
- Srijana Gurung, Acting Country Director of Plan International Nepal
- Climate policy expert
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) experts
- Young women advocates and child marriage survivors from Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, and Zimbabwe
For further information or interview requests, please contact:
Claire Knox, Senior Manager, Media, PR and Strategic Communications Media Manager
Tel: +61 (0)452326549
About Plan International
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, supporters, and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood, and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge. For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries. We won’t stop until we are all equal.
