Schools as Zones of Peace: The Impact of Safety on Early Marriage and Women’s Health
Early marriage rates tend to rise during conflict in order to smooth consumption or protect daughters from violence. However, it is well known that early marriage can be detrimental to women’s health outcomes. As a solution, safe schooling may replicate the protective characteristic of early marriage during conflict. The gradual implementation of the Schools as Zones of Peace (SZOP) initiative across Nepalese schools during the civil war creates a quasi-natural experiment. The causal effect of SZOP on early marriage and women’s health can be captured by measuring the change in outcomes over time to account for pre-policy trends. This approach will provide insights into whether educational safety initiatives like SZOP can help disrupt early marriage as a coping mechanism during conflict. If proven effective, my findings could guide policymakers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in conflict-affected regions as they work to protect girls’ education and health, thereby advancing progress on SDG targets.