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TLDR version: The report cites the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in stating that an additional 10 million girls this decade will be at risk of getting married before 18 years old due to the pandemic.
These girls face a higher death rate at a younger age and their babies suffer higher rates of infant mortality.
However, the effects of the pandemic e.g. school closures, loss of jobs, economic instability and financial hardships etc. have closed many doors for young people and driven them into marriages that they may not otherwise have entered into at such an early age.
More thoughts: Many countries have instituted a minimum age for marriage.
The article cites the legal age in Nepal to be 20 years old. However, the article also provides anecdotal examples to explain how and why this has not been effectively enforced.
UNICEF has published a full report on the impact of the pandemic on child marriage at: COVID-19: A threat to progress against child marriage – UNICEF DATA. Also read more about minimum age laws applicable to Singapore marriages in Lex & Rex (The Race for Truth).