CAIRO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has voiced sadness at the death of a 12-year-old Yemeni girl in labor and called for better protection of rights of women and children.

    "It was with great sadness that we learned of the untimely death of 12-year-old Fawziya Youssef from Yemen," the official said in a statement attained by Xinhua on Tuesday.

    In Yemen where tribal customs dominate society, Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, 12, was forced into a child marriage with a man at least twice her age.

    Both she and her baby died after struggling for three days in protracted labor, according to media reports.

    "Child marriages violate the rights of children in the most deplorable way. The younger the girl is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the health risks for her and her baby. Girls who give birth before the age of 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s," said the UNICEF official.

    "Tragedies like these underscore the urgent need to better protect the rights of women and children, particularly girls," said the statement.

    Child marriages are common in Yemen, an impoverished country located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

    More than a quarter of the Arab country's females marry before 15 years old, according to a recent report released by Yemeni Social Affairs Ministry.