IslamabadUN panel hails Pakistan’s marriage-age law, flags bonded labour
• Experts seek details on child brides, rehabilitation of flood victims and reconstruction efforts• Pakistani delegation says 600,000 destroyed homes rebuilt ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Wednesday concluded its review of Pakistan’s second periodic report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, welcoming the country’s 2025 legal amendment raising the minimum age of marriage to 18. However, committee members raised questions about bonded labour and reconstruction efforts following the 2022 and 2025 floods, among other topics. Committee expert and member of the task force for Pakistan, Michael Windfuhr, welcomed the 2025 amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, which raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 for both males and females. However, he noted that the committee remained concerned about the high number of child brides and asked about the impact of measures taken to prevent child marriage. Lazhari Bouzid, another committee expert and member of the task force for Pakistan, said bonded labour continued to be prevalent in agriculture and was also found in the informal sector, partic
