Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Pakistan about the issue of child, early and forced marriage, and in particular where the victims are members of religious minorities who have been abducted, forcibly converted and abused; what UK Aid projects support victims of child, early and forced marriage in Pakistan; and what assistance these projects provide.

The UK Government strongly condemns child, early and forced marriage and forced conversion of all women and girls in Pakistan, including from religious minorities. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief, women and girls' rights and gender equality with the government of Pakistan at a senior level. On 27 August, I raised our human rights concerns including Freedom of Religion of Belief with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari. On 8 September, I also raised these concerns with the Governor of Punjab, Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, on 8 September.

Our AAWAZ II Accountability, Inclusion and Reducing Modern Slavery Programme will spend £39.5m over 5 years (2018 - 2024) across the Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. As part of AAWAZ II, we support better data and evidence collection on child labour and child marriage; increased access to child protection services; and enhanced access for children to birth registration systems and birth certificates. We are also planning future community engagement on modern slavery.