16 pc women get married at 15: Nepal MICS

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) has shown that about 16 per cent of women enter into wedlock before the age of 15 years in Mid and Far Western Regions.

The survey also showed that 60 per cent of women get married before the age of 18 and 26 per cent of women in the 15-19 age group are married in these regions.

The survey was conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics with technical and financial support from UNICEF Nepal. The survey was conducted among 7,372 women aged 15-49 years and 3,574 children under the age of five from 6,000 households in 24 districts of these regions.

About 60 enumerators interacted with households’ heads, women and mothers of age under five years, during the course of the survey.

Deependra B Kshetry, vice-chairperson of National Planning Commission, said data from the survey would help find out core areas that the country should focus on for further development. He said that the survey has come up with very useful findings of regions.

The survey showed that only 64 per cent of infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives. Although immunisation coverage in the country has improved over the past decade, only 56 per cent of children in these regions had been fully immunised before their first birthday, compared to the national average of 81 per cent, according to the Nepal Demographic Health Survey-2011.

The survey also showed that 56 per cent of the households in these regions had no toilet facility and only 36 per cent were using improved sanitation.

The study further showed that 45 per cent received ante-natal care at least once from a skilled provider compared to national average of 58 per cent.

Similarly, only 29 per cent of women were delivered by skilled personnel compared to the national average of 36 per cent. The study showed that 19 per cent of women in the 15-49 age group reported that they have to live in a different shed during their periods. Results from the survey shows that 58 per cent of women aged 15-49 in the Mid and Far western hills live in animal sheds during their periods.