The Colombian parliament approves a law banning marriages minor 18

The Colombian parliament approved a law banning marriages under the age of 18.

The proposal would make the minimum age for marriage 18, and seeks to protect the rights and development opportunities for minors. Currently, the country’s civil code allows person as young as 14 years old to get married with parental consent.

Child marriage remains a widespread practice worldwide and affects around 12 million girls per year, according to the UN’s agency for children, UNICEF. But there’s been a global drop in child marriages over the past few years, according to the agency’s statistics.