"Point five of Village SDGs is about the involvement of village women, with one of the goals being the maturation of the marriage age," he observed at the Seminar and Declaration of the National Movement for Marriage Age Maturity here on Thursday.
The fifth point of the Village SDGs seeks to raise the minimum age of marriage for women to over 18 years and bring down the birth rate among adolescents aged 15-19 years to zero, he noted.
"It means that there should be no more teenage marriages," he explained.
He noted that efforts to increase the age of marriage and prevent child marriage have also been included in the Village SDGs, which seek to create healthy and prosperous villages.
The SDGs target increasing the prevalence of short-term and long-term contraceptive use in families of productive age to 100 percent.
Based on the declaration, initiated by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Ministry, Iskandar said the Village SDGs also emphasize contraceptive use by married women aged at least 18 years.
The aim is that children and adolescents not be pushed into early marriage caused by promiscuity, so that the birth rate among adolescents can reach zero, Iskandar elaborated.
"It means that no 19-year-old woman should have given birth to a child," said the minister.
Minister Iskandar welcomed the declaration saying it supports the achievement of the Village SDGs, which require collaboration from all parties.
Based on data from the PPP Ministry, in 2019, the national average of women in the 20-24 age group who were married before they turned 18 was 10.82 percent, a decline compared to 11.21 percent in 2018. (INE)
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Translator: Prisca Triferna Violleta, Katr
Editor: Suharto
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