KP Assembly Renews Call to Raise Minimum Marriage Age for Girls to 18
Peshawar:Junaid Toru
The Provincial Alliance to End Early, Child and Forced Marriages has welcomed a resolution tabled in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly calling for the minimum age of marriage for girls to be raised to 18 years.
The resolution was moved by Amna Sardar and highlights Pakistan’s commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. It emphasizes the need to end child, early, and forced marriages in the province.
According to the Alliance, the issue has resurfaced in the provincial legislature after years of policy stagnation. Civil society organizations noted that the proposed Child Marriage Restraint Bill has already been vetted by the Law Department but has yet to be presented before the provincial cabinet due to a lack of political will.
The Alliance pointed out that legislative reforms setting the minimum marriage age at 18 have already been enacted in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, and the Islamabad Capital Territory, while KP remains behind despite years of advocacy.
Speaking on the development, Qamar Naseem praised Ms. Sardar’s leadership in bringing the issue to the assembly floor. He urged the provincial government to immediately place the already-vetted bill before the cabinet and assembly for debate and passage.
Naseem further stated that civil society organizations believe the Council of Islamic Ideology has not opposed legislative efforts aimed at ending child marriage and has recognized the practice as a harmful social issue. He noted that the Council had also recommended making the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) mandatory during marriage registration.
Child rights advocate Zahoor Ahmad also welcomed the resolution, describing it as a long-overdue measure to safeguard girls’ education, health, dignity, and future opportunities.
The Alliance additionally cited observations of the Federal Shariat Court, which it said had ruled that laws regulating the minimum age of marriage are not contrary to Islamic principles. It also referred to the Cairo Declaration and Khartoum Declaration, which call for the elimination of harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation.
The Alliance urged the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to immediately present the Child Marriage Restraint Bill before the provincial cabinet and assembly for consideration and approval, stressing that further delays could undermine efforts to protect children’s rights and promote gender equality.
