Urges Punjab and KP to Immediately Standardize 18 as the Minimum Age of Marriage
Islamabad : National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) warmly welcomes the passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025 by the Balochistan Assembly a vital, long-awaited milestone for child protection, women’s rights, and gender equality in Pakistan.
Chairperson NCSW, Ms. Ume Laila Azhar, stated, “This achievement reflects the cumulative outcome of NCSW’s extensive nationwide consultations, during which political leaders, bureaucrats, religious scholars, civil society organisations, and members of the judiciary unanimously recognised the need to set 18 years as the minimum age of marriage. Importantly, religious scholars and the Council of Islamic Ideology have also acknowledged 18 as a just and reasonable age benchmark in the best interest of children. Their consensus reinforces one truth: safeguarding our children is a collective national responsibility.”
She further stressed that this law goes beyond preventing early marriages. “It is about protecting the mental, physical, and emotional development of future generations. It is about ensuring that our children grow healthier, learn better, and lead empowered lives.”
NCSW calls upon the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to urgently move forward with the approval of their respective Child Marriage Restraint Bills. With Sindh, the Islamabad Capital Territory, and now Balochistan already aligned with the national standard of 18 years, any further delay remains unjustifiable and detrimental.
Reiterating the urgency of uniformity across all provinces, Ms. Ume Laila Azhar added, “Standardizing 18 as the minimum age of marriage across Pakistan is not simply a legislative commitment, it is a moral, constitutional, and humanitarian responsibility. We must ensure consistent implementation, strengthened community vigilance, and a united resolve to secure safer and brighter futures for all children.”
NCSW, in collaboration with national and international partner organisations, reaffirms its unwavering commitment to supporting provincial governments in enacting, harmonizing, and enforcing strong legal protections to end child marriage and promote the rights of every child in Pakistan.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
