Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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393. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which he and his colleagues at EU and UN level can combat the practice of child brides; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4188/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The troubling practice of child, early and forced marriages is one in which the Government is committed to ending both at home and abroad. However, this is not a task that can be done single handedly and Ireland will continue to work with partners in multilateral fora.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is central to the protection and promotion of children’s rights on a global level. The Convention contains many clauses protecting children from child, early and forced marriages.

Within the EU, Ireland has a leadership role on negotiating UN Resolutions on the Rights of the Child in Geneva and New York. Ireland is also a traditional co-sponsor of the UN Resolution on the issue of child, early and forced marriage. This Resolution recognises that child marriage is a human rights violation that disproportionately affects girls and that it perpetuates other violations of human rights. It urges States to enact and enforce laws to ensure that marriage is entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses and to raise the minimum age for marriage.

Ireland continues to call on States to eliminate harmful practices such as child, early or forced marriage. At the current session of the Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council, for instance, we made a recommendation to Oman to end practices that are harmful to the health of the child, including child, early and forced marriages.

Internationally, Ireland has supported a number of UN partners in the prevention of child, early and forced marriages, including UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women. Gender equality is a central priority for Ireland’s foreign and development policy and in 2019, 76% of our bilateral ODA contributed to gender equality.