Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Burkina Faso regarding early and forced marriage.

During the 2018 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Burkina Faso’s human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council, we asked the Government of Burkina Faso for an update on their efforts to end early and forced marriage. We welcomed their adoption of the National Strategy to Prevent and Eradicate Child Marriage and the establishment of a multisectoral platform for its prevention and elimination. We encouraged them to review the Personal and Family Code to set the marriageable age at 18 years for both sexes.

In addition, through our global programme 'Action Against Child Marriage', the UK is supporting UNICEF and the UN Population Fund in Burkina Faso to:

• strengthen frameworks, laws and policies;

• scale up access to basic services for girls who have experienced or are at risk of child marriage;

• provide direct investments for adolescent girls at risk of early marriage;

• shift harmful social norms

We are also targeting key drivers of child marriage through investments in education and sexual reproductive health and rights