Nairobi 2004

H. E. President Kibaki
Honourables Ministers and MPs,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Dear friends and colleagues,

It is a great honour for all of us to participate in this important event in Kenya of great value not only for Kenyan women but for all girls and women living in Africa.

The global campaign for the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilations launched in 2001 is going on and this Conference represents a great step forward toward our common goal. It shows that the Government of Kenya, the civil society organisations and all the Kenyans partners feel that they have to take the leadership on FGM issue in the East African Region.

All different types of Female Genital Mutilation performed are a violation of fundamental human rights. The practice has to be firmly opposed because there is no form of violation of women’s physical integrity that can be acceptable. Like men, women have to enjoy their right to body integrity and their right to sexuality.

However, we also understand that the fight against FGM has to be carried on in respect of different cultural traditions and with due attention to the social and cultural contexts where the practice is performed. In fact FGM cannot be only considered as a health problem neither can it be considered as a mere legislative issue. Of course laws are an important tool, both at international and at national level, but it has been demonstrated that it cannot be sufficient.

Our common efforts must then be directed to build a cultural, social and political environment to spear a global movement for the abandonment of FGM. Interventions on this delicate topic must involve all social actors through media, education and legal campaigns, raising awareness on the issue and aiming at a real and long-lasting behavioural change starting from the communities.

Law is not enough but it is helpful indeed and, in the last two years, Kenya has made huge progress in this field, with regard to the outlawing of Female Genital Mutilation and, more in general, to the defense of children’s rights. At the international level, we cannot fail to mention the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (adopted on 12/07/2003), protocol the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted in Banjul on 27/06/1981, as the main legal instrument available.

Italy strongly supports the “Stop FGM” campaign and is actually working in close collaboration with UNICEF, both at global and at national levels. In March this year our Government allocated 1.8 Million Euros for a UNICEF programme to be implemented in 12 Sub-Saharan African countries. Among them, Kenya is perhaps the most significant.

In addition, the Italian Government also funded a specific programme on FGM in Kenya and I take the opportunity to invite all of you to the official launch, which will be held tomorrow at 6.30 pm at the cocktail hosted by UNICEF. This programme includes a National component and a Local one with pilot projects in two Districts of the Eastern and North-Eastern for a total budget of 390.000 Euro.
Italy and UNICEF hope that they will be able to extend similar programs in the regions.

In this regard, as Italy, we want to pay our sincere respects to all the organizing partners of this Conference for having been able to involve the main stakeholders of this country. Please allow me to specifically mention at this point the International NGO “No Peace Without Justice”, who assisted the Kenyan Government and the Civil Society in this difficult task. During these three days, the Kenyans, together with their international counterparts and the invited experts, will hopefully have been able to develop the best way of transferring the existing laws into common practices. Participants from different countries and cultures have the opportunity to share knowledge, experiences and lessons learned from previous programs, their successes or limits in order to work together to make this fundamental right of the African women a reality.

Our role as donors, and part of the international community, is therefore to support our Kenyan and African counterparts, both on a Governmental and non-governmental basis, in this challenging task. We express our heartfelt wishes that this Conference will represent a successful and significant step toward the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation in this country and in the whole region.