Kathmandu, July 30 -- The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has recommended the Nepal government to lower the current minimum age for marriage even as the government is working to relax some legal provisions related to marriage.

Presenting its concluding observations on Nepal's seventh periodic report, CEDAW suggested that Nepal lower the minimum marriage age from 20 years to 18 years. "Set the minimum age of marriage at 18 years for both girls and boys," reads one recommendation, further suggesting the government to harmonise the National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage with the National Action Plan to End Child Marriage 2018-2030, as defined by the Covention on the Rights of the Child...