UN Bodies Ally against FGM

United Nations International Children Fund Executive Director Ann M. Veneman and the United Nations Development Program (UNFPA) Executive Director Thoraya Obaid have issued a joint statement on the international day against female genital mutilation\cutting. Re-distributed by the UNICEF Gambia office at Cape Point, near Banjul, the statement welcomed the claimed progress been made in recent years in the incidence of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C), largely because communities and families are taking action and calling for change.  But the two gentlemen were quick to say that an estimated 120 to 140 million women have been subject to the practice and 3 million girls continue to be at risk each year.

“The practice persists because it is sustained by social perceptions, including that girls and their families will face shame, social exclusion and diminished marriage prospects if they forego cutting. These perceptions can, and must change,"it was stated

The news dispatch revealed further that "FGM/C poses immediate and long-term consequences for the health of women and girls, and violates their human rights."

According to the release, success in reducing the incidence in several countries where it was once highly prevalent has occurred as a result of culturally sensitive engagement with local communities, encouraging change from within.

"Where communities have chosen to make public declarations against the practice, for example in Senegal, declines of up to 65 per cent has been recorded," the joint statement declared.

"Support is being provided by UNFPA, UNICEF and other partners for community-led abandonment programs. The programs engage parliamentarians, media, traditional communicators, women lawyers, medical associations, religious leaders and scholars to speak out against the practice."

The International Day against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting which was marked in The Gambia with a statement issued by GAMCOTRAP, is said to provide an opportunity for people everywhere to redouble their efforts and end the practice within a generation.

 In a related issue, the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), a women's rights organization, in partnership with the Yolocamba Solidaridad and the region of Madrid in Spain , will host a sub-regional meeting here Wednesday aimed at fashioning alternatives to female genital mutilation (FGM).