An official from the ministry told the United Nations Human Rights Council that this was an example of how the ministry’s National Strategic Plan in Handling the Causes of Child Marriage 2020-2025 had helped reduce child marriages.
She said the government was conducting a mid-term review of the strategic plan to assess the efficacy of its strategies and programmes.
“This plan covers awareness campaigns on sexual and reproductive health, gaps in legislation, education, strengthening family support systems and collecting socio-economic data,” the official said in Geneva, Switzerland last night.
“Through the implementation of this strategy, there has been a significant reduction of child marriage cases.
“In the state of Selangor, for example, there was a reduction of 82.8% between 2018 and 2022,” she told the council during its periodic review of Malaysia’s human rights record.
In May 2022, the then women, family and community development minister Rina Harun said Putrajaya did not have any plans to ban underage marriages.
Her successor, and current minister, Nancy Shukri was reported to have said in March last year that though the unity government was against child marriages, it could not impose such a ban nationwide as the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the respective state governments.
The minister added that Putrajaya had already written to each state government on the matter.
Meanwhile, the ministry official reiterated that Malaysia remained committed to protecting children’s rights, pointing out the formation of the new children’s development department in September as an example.
“(The department) focuses on prevention, rehabilitation, development and integration of children into society. This department will enhance Malaysia’s efforts towards child protection, including in handling cases of child abuse and neglect.”
The official also said the department will have 900 personnel by 2026, so that the ratio of protection officers to children will increase in stages. The current ratio of one officer to 108 children will increase to one to 30.