Female Genital Mutilation Has Declined in Southeast, Globally, Say UNICEF, UNFPA
NGO tasks Kwara residents on harmful practice
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have jointly declared that the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) within the South-east region of Nigeria and other places around the world has declined by nearly a quarter (25 per cent) since year 2000.
This stemmed from UNICEF’s joint efforts with the UNFPA to end the scourge in some countries, disclosed at a recent one-day policy dialogue with Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI) with support from UNICEF/UNFPA in Owerri, capital of Imo State with the theme ‘Ending female genital mutilation is a political decision’.
Also, a joint statement issued by UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta H. Fore and UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem was presented in Owerri, the Imo State capital by UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Enugu, Dr. Ibrahim Conteh, on the recent International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, marked worldwide on February 6 annually.
Conteh said “Around the world, momentum to eliminate female genital mutilation is building. Political will, community engagement, and targeted investment are changing practices and changing lives.”
According to Conteh, in countries where UNFPA and UNICEF work jointly to end female genital mutilation, girls are one-third less likely to undergo this harmful practice today than they were in 1997. More than 25 million people in some 18,000 communities across 15 countries have publicly disavowed the practice since 2008. Globally, its prevalence has declined by nearly a quarter since around 2000.
“This is good for girls and young women themselves; it is also good for their families and communities. Girls who are not subjected to the practice tend to grow up to be healthier and have healthier children. They are often better educated, earn higher incomes and are more empowered to make decisions about their own lives. Communities and countries that confront the harmful practice and commit to changing it reap commensurate benefits”, the statement says.
It however restated a call on governments at all levels, civil society organisations, as well as traditional and religious leaders to join together and end the scourge of Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting in Imo State and Nigeria.
“Female genital mutilation is many things, including being a violent act that causes infection, disease, childbirth complications, and even death.
A cruel practice that inflicts lasting emotional harm and preys on the most vulnerable, least powerful members of society - girls between infancy and age 15, as well as a violation of human rights that both reflects and perpetuates the low status of girls and women in too many places.
“The Sustainable Development Goals recognise that female genital mutilation undermines progress towards a more equal, just, and prosperous world. They set an ambitious target of eliminating all such harmful practices against girls and women by 2030”, it noted.