ISLAMABAD: National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar on Wednesday said that there should be a uniform minimum age for girls’ marriages across the country and practitioners of all religions should comply with it.

“I suggest that the minimum age for girl marriage should be 18 in Pakistan but in Punjab and some other provinces minimum age is 16. The minimum age…in Christian and Parsi religions is different. Unfortunately, a bill restraining child marriage in the country moved almost six times in parliament but could not sail through,” she said while talking to Dawn after the National Stakeholders’ Conference on Ending Child Marriage.

“I have experience of legislation so I have been making efforts to amend the bill and make it acceptable to all stakeholders… The apex court should pass a judgement in that regard or an ordinance should be promulgated,” she said.

Replying to a question, Ms Bakhtiar said that the religious segments had always been a hurdle in the passage of the bill and that is why she decided to give the chair of the second day of the conference to Professor Dr Qibla Ayaz, the former chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

Nilofar Bakhtiar says millions of girls remain out of school in Pakistan

She said the moot was organised on Oct 11 in line with the UN General Assembly resolution that had declared the day as the International Day of the Girl Child to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges they faced around the world.

The conference was organised by the commission in collaboration with its development partners Unicef, UNFPA, UN Women, FCDO and UKAid.

Ms Bakhtiar said it was a tragedy that millions of girls were out of school in Pakistan due to prevailing social and economic circumstances.

Laktika Maskey Pardhan, deputy country representative of UNFPA, said that the adolescent fertility rate in Pakistan was high at 46 per 1,000 adolescent girls aged 15-19. The primary school dropout rate was 22.7 per cent, which was one of the highest in the region where 32pc of married adolescents (15-19 years of age) experienced gender-based violence.

She added that the overall need for this framework was to ensure that proactive measures were put in place that were comprehensive and holistic to eliminate and respond to child marriages. She added a targeted and collective approach was the only solution to move forward.

During her speech, Daniela Luciana, chief of the Unicef Child Protection Programme, observed there was a need for robust legal frameworks to prohibit child marriages and ensure accountability.

While speaking at the conference, UN Women Deputy Country Rep Franklin Okumu said that beyond individuals, families and communities, child marriages had high economic cost.

A study by NCSW and UN Women found that the total cost of child marriages in Pakistan was $ 0.8 billion or 0.42pc of GDP. “Child brides are deprived of their fundamental rights to health including life itself. Globally, complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death in girls aged 15-19.” He ended his remarks by uttering strong words, “Please don’t mess with my baby girl.”

Special guest Jo Moir, development director at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in her closing remarks, said that child marriages were harmful with severe consequences that impede equality.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023