A REVIEW of Malaysia’s efforts to curb child marriage is expected to be completed early next year, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri (pic).
The Women, Family and Community Development Minister said the findings would guide actions to protect girls and prevent underage marriages.
She said the evaluation of the National Strategic Plan to Address the Causes of Underage Marriage 2020-2025, conducted with Unicef Malaysia, would assess the plan’s effectiveness, identify implementation gaps and determine areas requiring further action.
A separate study by the ministry’sMalaysian Social Institute (ISM) is also examining the risk factors, protective factors and prevention strategies relating to child marriage in the country.
“The findings will be used to identify implementation gaps, establish priorities for follow-up action with relevant agencies and examine specific resource requirements,” she told the Dewan Rakyat during Question Time yesterday.
Nancy was responding to Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) who asked about the key findings of the previous strategic plan, follow-up measures to address child marriage and specific investments in education, protection and well-being of teenage girls.
She said both studies should be done by early 2027, and the government should present the final findings then.
In a supplementary question, Khoo asked whether the studies would include cases involving customary marriages, refugee children and stateless children to ensure a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.
He also sought clarification on the timeline for completing the evaluation, citing global figures showing that one in five marriages involved women who were married before the age of 18.
Nancy said the country’s statistics covered civil, Syariah and customary marriages involving children below 18.
She said there were 1,467 recorded cases in 2019, 923 in 2023 and 1,361 in 2024.
The data was compiled from the National Registration Department, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, the state Islamic Religious Department, the Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia and Sarawak Council for Native Customs and Traditions.
“Based on the findings, the increase in 2024 was partly due to Sarawak having a more systematic data collection,” she said.
