Emphatically opposed to all forms of Female Genital Mutilation, whether carried out by healthcare providers-medicalisation or local circumcisers , key United Nations agencies have again called on the Federal Government to take concrete action to end the harmful cultural practice which has left many women and girls in pain by 2030.
Making the call in a statement issued on Wednesday to mark this year’s International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, the international agencies, said the government could eliminate FGM by developing new policies and laws that would protect the rights of girls and women to live free from violence and discrimination.
In the statement signed by Executive Director, UNFPA, Dr.Natalia Kanem; Executive Director, UNICEF, Henrietta Fore and Executive Director, UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the bodies said in 2015, world leaders overwhelmingly backed the elimination of FGM as one of the targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
According to the statement, this is an achievable goal, and “we must act now to translate that political commitment into action.”
“Governments in countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent should also develop national action plans to end the practice. To be effective, their plans must include budget lines dedicated to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, education, social welfare and legal services”, the statement said.
The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day that takes place on February 6. It is part of the UN’s efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. It was first introduced in 2003.
Reaffirming their commitment to ending this violation of human rights, so that the tens of millions of girls who are still at risk of being mutilated by 2030 do not experience the barbaric act, the UN agencies revealed that at least, 200 million girls and women alive today have had their genitals mutilated– suffering one of the most inhuman acts of gender-based violence in the world.
The statement said : “This effort is especially critical because female genital mutilation leads to long-term physical, psychological and social consequences. It violates women’s rights to sexual and reproductive health, physical integrity, non-discrimination and freedom from cruel or degrading treatment. It is also a violation of medical ethics: Female genital mutilation is never safe, no matter who carries it out or how clean the venue is.
“Because female genital mutilation is a form of gender-based violence, we cannot address it in isolation from other forms of violence against women and girls, or other harmful practices such as early and forced marriages. To end female genital mutilation, we have to tackle the root causes of gender inequality and work for women’s social and economic empowerment.
“At the national level, we need new policies and legislation protecting the rights of girls and women to live free from violence and discrimination.. “
Since its existence for so many years in Nigeria now, no single good has come out of it, neither has it added any value to the society.
This harmful and deadly practice, instead, has left so much devastating impact on the health of its victims – women and girls who are erroneously mutilated, all in the name of preventing them from being promiscuous.
Besides addressing the problem at the national level, the executive directors are also seeking regional and local action to end the harmful practice.
“At the regional level, we need institutions and economic communities to work together, preventing the movement of girls and women across borders when the purpose is to get them into countries with less restrictive female genital mutilation laws.
“Locally, we need religious leaders to strike down myths that female genital mutilation has a basis in religion. Because societal pressures often drive the practice, individuals and families need more information about the benefits of abandoning it.
“Public pledges to abandon female genital mutilation – particularly pledges by entire communities – are an effective model of collective commitment. But public pledges must be paired with comprehensive strategies for challenging the social norms, practices and behaviours that condone female genital mutilation”, the statement said.
However, despite some states in the country still holding onto the practice, the recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2016 -2017) shows some decline in the incidence of FGM in Nigeria, 18.4% of women aged 15-49 years now undergo FGM; a decrease from 27% in 2011. UNICEF and partners’ interventions to ensure the elimination of FGM by 2030 has resulted in a break in the barrier against discussing FGM publicly. Religious leaders, community stakeholders and young people now speak out against this practice. Subsequently, last year, more than 309 communities publicly declared abandonment of the practice.
“Despite this decline, millions of girls and women are still faced with the scourge of genital mutilation every year in Nigeria. There is, therefore, an urgent need for decision makers and political leaders to take concrete action towards ending the harmful practice of FGM in Nigeria”, said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Country representative.
