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Kristine Blokhus, UNFPA country representative to Bangladesh, said, “Currently, the rate of reduction of child marriage in Bangladesh is only 2.1 percent per year, which means it will take Bangladesh over two centuries -- 215 years -- to eliminate child marriage.”

“Keeping girls in school is a game changer,” she added.

Stanley Gwavuya, OIC representative of Unicef in Bangladesh, and Nazma Mobarek, secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, also spoke.