International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation 2016

New statistical report on female genital mutilation shows harmful practice is a global concern – UNICEF
NEW YORK, 5 February 2016 – At least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation in 30 countries, according to a new statistical report published ahead of the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.

The report – Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Global Concern – notes that half of the girls and women who have been cut live in three countries – Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia – and refers to smaller studies and anecdotal accounts that provide evidence FGM is a global human rights issue affecting girls and women in every region of the world. Female genital mutilation refers to a number of procedures. Regardless of which form is practiced, FGM is a violation of children’s rights.

“Female genital mutilation differs across regions and cultures, with some forms involving life-threatening health risks. In every case FGM violates the rights of girls and women. We must all accelerate efforts – governments, health professionals, community leaders, parents and families – to eliminate the practice,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta.

According to the data, girls 14 and younger represent 44 million of those who have been cut, with the highest prevalence of FGM among this age in Gambia at 56 per cent, Mauritania 54 per cent and Indonesia where around half of girls aged 11 and younger have undergone the practice. Countries with the highest prevalence among girls and women aged 15 to 49 are Somalia 98 per cent, Guinea 97 per cent and Djibouti 93 per cent. In most of the countries the majority of girls were cut before reaching their fifth birthdays…

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‘We Can End Female Genital Mutilation within a Generation’, Secretary-General Says in Message to Mark Global Zero-Tolerance Day for Harmful Practice
4 February 2016
SG/SM/17513-OBV/1578-WOM/2058

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Eliminate Female Genital Mutilation by 2030, say UNFPA and UNICEF
Joint statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on the 2016 International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM
NEW YORK, 5 February 2016 – “FGM is a violent practice, scarring girls for life — endangering their health, depriving them of their rights, and denying them the chance to reach their full potential.

“FGM is widespread. It is a global problem that goes well beyond Africa and the Middle East, where the practice has been most prevalent — affecting communities in Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. And the number of girls and women at risk will only get larger if current population trends continue, wiping out hard-won gains.

“FGM is discrimination. It both reflects and reinforces the discrimination against women and girls, perpetuating a vicious cycle that is detrimental to development and to our progress as a human family.

“FGM must end. In September at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, 193 nations unanimously agreed to a new global target of eliminating FGM by 2030. This recognition that FGM is a global concern is a critical milestone.

“But the recognition, while important, is not enough. To protect the wellbeing and dignity of every girl, we need to take responsibility as a global community for ending FGM.

“That means we need to learn more — improving our data collection to measure the full extent of the practice — and do more. We need to encourage more communities and families to abandon FGM. We need to work with larger numbers of medical communities — including traditional and medical professionals — persuading them to refuse to perform or support FGM. We need to support more women and girls who have undergone the harmful practice and provide them with services and help to overcome the trauma they have suffered. And we need to support and empower girls around the world to make their voices heard and call out to put an end to FGM.

“All of us must join in this call. There simply is no place for FGM in the future we are striving to create – a future where every girl will grow up able to experience her inherent dignity, human rights and equality by 2030.

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Statement by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
Date: 05 February 2016
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development brings renewed urgency to the call for “Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation”, explicitly naming this as an instance of a “harmful practice” that is targeted for elimination as part of our collective efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Today, we assert again every girl’s right to live as a full human being with control over her own body and informed choice in what happens to it. Some 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have already undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). In most countries, the majority were cut before the age of five.

It is not a simple matter to challenge and change customary behaviours. Yet where those practices enforce gender inequality, this is what we must do, supported by collective international agreements that bring universal condemnation to this most private of violations.

One aspect of achieving change is legislation that bans FGM, with policies that securely implement the laws. While 41 Member States have already criminalized FGM, legislation is not yet having its desired impact in every country.

Next month, in a series of meetings and events that draw thousands of representatives from government and civil society, the Commission on the Status of Women will review global progress in ending violence against women and girls, including the practice of FGM, as a matter of urgency, within the context of the overall priority theme of women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development. The scope of this review underlines our understanding that a comprehensive approach is necessary to address the root causes of gender inequality, violence against women and girls, and harmful practices such as FGM.

The prevalence of FGM is decreasing in most countries – but it is far from zero. Eliminating FGM is also an essential step to realizing other Sustainable Development Goals, including targets on health and well-being, quality education, decent work and economic growth, all of which are underpinned by work that empowers women and girls and achieves gender equality.

There are success stories: national action plans are in place in a growing number of countries, through which governments are supporting community engagement in prevention activities, with hotlines to receive reports of FGM and provide information on support services, and specialized clinics to treat survivors.

Working with governments, the UN system, civil society, and the media, we must continue to change how girls are valued in their community, reduce the pressure they experience from their families, communities and peers, and help in the search for alternative rites of passage, and means of income for those who perform the ritual, finding creative solutions, for example, that engage men in culture change. Let this International Day of Zero Tolerance galvanize us in all our collective efforts to achieve our goals and eliminate FGM for good.