More than 100 million girls over the next decade will marry before their 18th birthday, including many aged as young as eight or nine, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) warned at an international meeting in Washington. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA said: "Married adolescents have been largely ignored in the development and health agenda because of the perception that their married status ensures them a safe passage to adulthood," adding "nothing could be further from the truth."