CZOP Highlights Past Advocacy Efforts for Child Rights Protection and Promotion

Kathmandu, 31 Baisakh. Child rights activists have urged the Government of Nepal to keep the legal marriage age at 20 years, opposing proposals to lower it to 18. Speaking at a discussion program under the “Marriage Only After 20” campaign organized by the Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) National Campaign, speakers warned that early marriage harms education, mental health, economic stability, social development, and reproductive health.

Former Executive Director of the National Child Rights Council, Tarak Dhital, said studies show serious negative impacts of lowering the marriage age and cited China, South Korea, and India as countries where the legal marriage age is 20 or above. He also called for the effective implementation of Nepal’s 2072 strategy to end child marriage.

Nepal’s Constitution prohibits forcing children into marriage, while Section 173 of the Muluki Criminal Code 2074 criminalizes marriages below 20 years of age. CZOP President Tilottam Poudel stated that lowering the marriage age would not reduce child marriage and could increase health risks, including higher birth and death rates among young mothers and children.