PESHAWAR:The National Partnership of Girls Not Brides (GNB) Pakistan, a part of the Global Alliance to End Child Marriage, congratulates the National Assembly and Senate of Pakistan for the historic passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Act for the Islamabad Capital Territory. This significant legal advancement, which sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both boys and girls, is a crucial step toward upholding the rights, dignity, and future of children in Pakistan.
Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage is a global alliance of civil society organizations working around the globe to end child marriage and enable girls to reach their full potential. In Pakistan, the national partnership mobilizes diverse stakeholders, including religious leaders, parliamentarians, civil society actors, and youth, to advocate for protective legal and policy reforms.
The members of the National Partnership strongly reject the orchestrated misinformation campaign being led by certain extremist factions against this legislation. These voices distort religious teachings and mislead the public, undermining national and international efforts to protect children. The legislation is not in contradiction to Islam, as affirmed by numerous Islamic scholars and is in alignment with the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990) and the Khartoum Declaration (2017)—both of which emphasize the protection, dignity, and well-being of children in accordance with Islamic principles.
The Government of Pakistan has also accepted Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations to eliminate child marriage and committed under the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.3 to eliminate all harmful practices, including child, early, and forced marriage. Furthermore, this law aligns with Pakistan’s National Human Rights Framework, including the National Action Plan for Human Rights and various provincial human rights policies aimed at child protection and gender equality.
We now urge the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to follow suit by introducing and passing similar child marriage restraint legislation. In both provinces, the absence of such laws continues to leave thousands of girls vulnerable to early and forced marriages, compromising their health, education, and autonomy.
“We deeply appreciate the leadership shown by the Parliament of Pakistan in passing this critical legislation for Islamabad and the capital territories. It is now time for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to demonstrate the same political will and moral courage. Ending child marriage is not only a legal and developmental imperative—it is a moral obligation rooted in both Islamic values and global human rights commitments,” said Mr. Qamar Naseem, Focal Person of Girls Not Brides – National Partnership Pakistan.
