Conducting a Consultative Session on the Project to Prevent Marriage Under the Age of 18

Within the framework of the “Preventing Marriage Under the Age of 18” project, the Investigator Organization for supporting role of law and Democracy (IOL), in partnership and cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and with the support of the Regional Development and Protection Program (RDPP), organized a consultative session on 14 June 2022, with the participation of a number of relevant stakeholders.
During the session, Mr. Awdir Anwar, the Project Officer, presented detailed statistics prepared by the Investigator Organization for supporting role of law and Democracy on the total number of marriage contracts registered in personal status courts in the Kurdistan Region during 2021, including cases involving marriages of persons under the age of 18 that were concluded with judicial authorization.
Subsequently, Judge Badraddin Barzanji, the Organization’s Advisor, presented a detailed legal comparison of personal status laws in a number of neighboring and Arab countries concerning the minimum age prescribed for marriage. He also presented the proposed draft amendments to the Personal Status Law concerning provisions related to permitting marriage under the age of 18, which had been prepared by the Investigator Organization for supporting role of law and Democracy.
At the conclusion of the session, the floor was opened for discussion and participation. A large number of participants actively contributed by presenting their observations and views. The various opinions and perspectives were duly taken into consideration and contributed to further enriching and developing the project.