NPWJ preparatory mission in Djibouti to organize a workshop on FGM legislation

Brussels-Rome, 16 September 2008

On 16–19 September 2008, a NPWJ delegation will be in Djibouti to finalize the organisational planning of a Workshop Hearing on FGM legislation to take place on 5-6 October 2008 at the Djiboutian Parliament. The Workshop forms an integral part of a UNICEF project intended to develop a legal, political and social environment to promote and protect the human rights of women and girls and the abandonment of FGM.
 
The main objective of the workshop, that will be organized in collaboration with Hon. Safia Djibril, Member of the Parliament of Djibouti, and the National Union of Djibouti Women, is to discuss the impact of the current FGM Elimination National Strategy in Djibouti as well as to provide accurate and persuasive information to Members of the Djiboutian Parliament on the various elements that need to be included in a new FGM law that Djibouti is called to adopt in order to comply with the obligations contained in the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (also named the Maputo Protocol), ratified by Djibouti on 2 February 2005.
 
The workshop will also be an occasion to follow up the recommendations from the Sub-Regional Conference on Female Genital Mutilation "Towards a Political and Religious Consensus Against Female Genital Mutilation", which was organised by NPWJ in partnership with the Djibouti Government and the Djibouti National Women’s Union, in Djibouti, on 2-3 February 2005.
 
The Conference of 2005, attended by governmental representatives, parliamentarians, civil society exponents as well as by the highest Islamic religious authorities from Djibouti and countries of the Sub-Region, concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Djibouti Declaration which states that FGM is a violation of human rights which finds no religious basis in the Qur'an - as well as in other revealed religions (Christianity and Judaism) - to justify its perpetuation, and recommends the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa by all AU-member countries. At the conclusion of the Conference, the First Minister of Djibouti also delivered the instrument of ratification of the Maputo Protocol to the representative of the African Union.
 
During the mission, the NPWJ delegation plan to meet with the President of the National Assembly and other Parliamentarians, representatives of relevant Ministries as well  as civil society activists and NGOs to discuss with them the efforts in Djibouti to harmonize the existing legislation on FGM with Djibouti’s international obligations, namely as a State Party to the Maputo Protocol.
 
Background note
 
For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 (0)2 548-3914.