Pakistan: Marriage

(asked on 26th April 2021) - View Source

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 adequacy of the implementation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act in Pakistan.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 29th April 2021

Pakistan's Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 sets the minimum marriage age at 16 years for girls and 18 years for boys. Sindh is the only province which has passed provincial legislation to increase the marriageable age to 18 years for both boys and girls. According to UNICEF's State of the World's Children report in 2017 18% of girls in Pakistan are married before the age of 18 years.

The UK Government is working to end the harmful practice of child marriage. Through our Aawaz II programme, we are generating data on the costs of child marriage to inform policy and are supporting dialogue for enactment of reformed Child Marriage Restraint Bills in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The programme is also working with communities to change social behaviours towards this issue. Our work also include collaboration with government and civil society to strengthen child protection institutions and Juvenile Justice System (including establishment of child courts) to improve delivery of services and rights for children.

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