Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of proposals to be considered by the Iraqi Parliament to amend the Personal Status Law to reduce the age of consent for girls in that country to 9 years old.

The UK is analysing the proposed amendments to Iraq's Personal Status Law and its implications for women and children's rights, which we note have not yet been passed through the House of Representatives. As we continue to privately engage with a range of Iraqi interlocutors to discuss this, we are emphasising the importance of any amendments' compatibility with Iraq's international obligations.