Declaration of the South Asia Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Child Marriage: “Accelerating our Collective Efforts to End Child Marriage” Featured
The South Asia Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Child Marriage, attended by Rt. Hon. Nanda Bahadur Pun Pasang, Vice President of Nepal (Front Row, 10th from left). Deputy Speaker of Tongan Parliament Lord Tu'i'afitu (Second Row, 4th from right) and Dr. Sione Vikilani, Deputy Clerk (Second Row, 3rd from right).
26 March, 2016. 25 Members of Parliament from 13 countries from the Asia-Pacific Region, gathered together on 22-23 March, 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal, to discuss the importance of designing and implementing laws and policies to promote accountability and accelerate collective efforts both nationally and sub-regionally for ending early, child, and forced marriage.
Recognizing early, child, and forced marriage as a grave violation of fundamental human rights, an unlawful harmful practice, and a severe form of violence against children and child labor, the members of parliament endorsed the Kathmandu Declaration. In summary, the commitment reflected the will of the parliamentarians to:
• Ensure all States adopt and implement a comprehensive and harmonized set of laws that establish the minimum age for marriage at no lower than age 18, for all genders, define child marriage in accordance with international standards, and end impunity for early, child, and forced marriage;
• Increase the active and meaningful participation of women and girls in civic, political, and social life, and provide for free and compulsory school enrollment and attendance, incorporating comprehensive sexuality and reproductive health education for all, and developing alternative and vocational programs to reach children who are no longer in formal education.
To achieve these commitments, the parliamentarians committed to fostering collaboration, partnerships and interdependence among branches of government, and create and support partnerships between government, political parties, regional and national human rights institutions, local community leaders, faith communities, civil society organizations, non- governmental organizations, and inter-governmental and donor organizations, with the aim of creating holistic, effective, and sustainable solutions to the root causes of early, child, and forced marriage.
The Parliament of the Kingdom of Tonga was represented to this meeting by the Deputy Speaker of the House Lord Tu'i'afitu and the Deputy Clerk Dr. Sione Vikilani.
The full declaration was made available at the closing session of the conference, and is also posted on AFPPD’s official website: www.afppd.org.
AFPPD
