Kuala Lumpur — A global goal of ending child marriage by 2030 will not be achieved unless the world steps up its efforts, campaigners warned at a meeting on Monday aimed at stopping the practice. Twelve-million girls a year are married before the age of 18 with often devastating consequences for their health and education, and ending the practice by 2030 is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Rates have fallen in recent years, but advocates say the practice remains widespread in some parts of the world, raising doubts about the 2030 target. "Unless we strengthen and accelerate our work in the coming years, because of population growth, we might not be able to end child marriage in one generation," said Mabel van Oranje, who chairs the campaign group Girls Not Brides. "If we have a world without child marriage, this world will be trillions and trillions of dollars wealthier," Van Oranje told the more than 500 delegates at the conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur....
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