“International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM”: For a worldwide ban on this human rights violation in 2012

On the occasion of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), together with the other members of the Ban FGM Coalition, renewed the appeal to all States, and to all regional and international organisations, to demonstrate their commitment to human rights and particularly the rights of women by taking an unequivocal and joint stance in favour of the adoption this year by the United Nations General Assembly of a Resolution banning FGM worldwide.
 

Under the theme “From Malabo to New York: Support the Resolution of the UN General Assembly Banning FGM in The World”, various initiatives and events were organized in cooperation with members of the Ban FGM Coalition in most of the African countries affected by the practice, in particular in Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Togo, Sierra Leone, Uganda and The Gambia. The purpose of these events was to recall the commitment taken by the African Union and its member States to promote the adoption of a resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide at the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
 

“As recalled by United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-Moon’s Report “Ending Female Genital Mutilation”, released last month, achieving a common and harmonised strategy to address female genital mutilation as a violation of human rights would have important consequences worldwide, fostering the harmonization of legal tools and mechanisms against FGM not only in Africa but in all affected countries as well as providing strong and clear support for all activists working to bring an end to the practice.
 
 
During the first week of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. NPWJ will hold a high-level parallel event with the participation of Ministers, Parliamentarians, Permanent Representatives and other high-level officials who have had a leading role in the Campaign. This Event, “A worldwide ban on female genital mutilation: From the Decision of the African Heads of State to a United Nations General Assembly Resolution”, will be aimed at harnessing the renewed attention that the United Nations General Assembly Resolution can provide to bringing an end to FGM.
 
 
Ban FGM Campaign
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), in coalition with the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, Euronet-FGM and the Senegalese NGO La Palabre, have cooperated closely on several initiatives to foster support for the adoption of UNGA Resolution banning FGM as a human rights violation. The campaign has gained the support of human rights activists, women’s organisations, parliamentarians and government representatives from throughout Africa and Europe.
 
For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org or Nicola Giovannini, email: ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 15.