Conférence Sous-Régionale de Bamako sur les Mutilations Génitales Féminines et la mise en œuvre du Protocole de Maputo

Media Coverage - Bamako, 21-22 February 2006

Press Release
Bamako, 21 – 22 February 2006: The international non-profit organisation No Peace Without Justice, in collaboration with the Government of Mali, through the Ministry for the Promotion of Woman, Childhood and Family, is organising a “Sub-Regional Conference on Female Genital Mutilation and Implementation of the Maputo Protocol” to be held in Bamako on 21 and 22 February 2006. The Conference will focus on the Maputo Protocol, which is described as the first real “Charter of Rights” for African women, and the implementation of its obligations, as well as on socio-cultural and health aspects linked to FGM.
The Conference will be an occasion to highlight the existing consensus within the whole Sub-Region around the ratification of the Maputo Protocol, which entered into force on 29 November 2005 after the 15th ratification was deposited. Article 5 of the Maputo Protocol explicitly condemns the practice of Female Genital Mutilation as a violation of fundamental human rights. The Conference is part of the international campaign for the abandonment of FGM and the ratification and effective implementation of the Maputo Protocol carried out by No Peace Without Justice, with the financial support of the Italian Cooperation and UNICEF. The Italian radical MEP Emma Bonino will open the Conference, which will see the participation of representatives of governments, parliaments and civil society from Mali and countries of the Sub-Region, including Benin, Burkina-Faso, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

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