made).Furthermore, it also drew attention to the fact that there was limited knowledge in finance, management, loan process and terms especially in the island communities.97 Recommendations • Establish a mechanism to manage and effectively coordinate service provision and information relating to social protection. Article 15 & 16: Law, Marriage and Family Concluding Observation: Law reform in Family Law and comparative jurisprudence on the interpretations of Islamic Law (CO2007/3, para. 36 & 37) 82. All marriages in Maldives need to be registered with the courts and out of court marriages are not legally recognized. However there are reports of unregistered marriages encouraged by some religious scholars claiming that registering marriages with the courts is un‐Islamic and unnecessary. 98,99 HRCM in its monitoring visits also found that there were some marriages that were not registered with the Courts. State institutions acknowledge this information and raised concerns that children born to such marriages could face serious legal issues and difficulties in accessing their fundamental rights and freedoms. Similarly, women in such marriages are bound to face social and legal consequences.100 83. The committee recommended withdrawing reservations to Article 16 on revisions to the law on marriage and family relations (CO_2007/3, para. 12). Government has agreed to remove the reservation to Article 16. 1(a)(b)(e)(g)(h) and 2 of CEDAW, however, it has not been finalised yet.101 While matters relating to gender equality as applied to family and marriage laws are based on Sharia, MLG informed HRCM that it is exploring possibilities of removing reservation to parts of Article 16 in harmony with Islam and Sharia. Recommendations • Take appropriate measures to deal with extreme ideologies and practices which can lead to cultural and societal problems. • Remove reservation from Article 16 Page 31 of 35