Putrajaya urged to look into child marriage issue

The Child Rights CSO Group wants Putrajaya to meet NGOs to address child protection issues in the country.

The Child Rights CSO Group says the government must work with NGOs in the implementation of policies and laws for the protection of children. (Facebook pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Child Rights CSO Group (CSCG) has called on the government to meet with child rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to address critical child protection issues in light of viral reports of an 11-year-old girl being married to a 41-year-old Malaysian man.

CSCG, in a statement today, said that the situation was totally unacceptable and that Malaysia must take all effective and appropriate measures to abolish traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.

“We call on the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, in particular, the women, family and community development ministry, the police, health ministry, home ministry, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and education ministry, to urgently do a complete review of the child development and protection support systems.

“We also urge the government to work with and listen to NGOs as we exist to complement and support the government to address serious gaps in the implementation of policies and laws for the protection of our children, both citizens and non-citizens,” the group said, adding that it was ready and willing to work with the government to address and improve the issue of child rights and protection in Malaysia.

They also called on the government to take immediate action to ban child marriage and to fulfil what was promised in the PH manifesto on this issue. - FMT