UN draft resolution a landmark step in global efforts to end FGM

UN draft resolution a landmark step in global efforts to end FGM
APA (African Press Agency), 27 Nov 2012

APA-New York, (USA) On Monday the Social, Humanitarian Cultural Affairs Committee (commonly referred to as the Third Committee) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the draft resolution “Intensifying Global Efforts for the elimination of female genital mutilation” submitted by the African Group at the UN last October, and the General Assembly is expected to consider its adoption in December in the framework of its 67th session. According to a prelease from No Peace Without Justice, the formal adoption Monday of the draft resolution is the result of years of advocacy efforts to bring worldwide attention to the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM), spearheaded by an ever-expanding Ban FGM Coalition, composed of No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC), Euronet-FGM, and the NGOs La Palabre, Manifesto 99 and Equality Now.
A statement by Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program of No Peace Without Justice said:
“No Peace Without Justice, together with its partners in the International NGO Coalition to Ban FGM Worldwide, applaud the formal adoption by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly of a draft resolution on female genital mutilation, which signals a landmark step in the international campaign to foster global leadership in the fight against FGM as a wide-scale and blatant violation of the fundamental human rights of women and girls.
"The text adopted today is an essential contribution to the United Nations General Assembly addressing this human rights violation as a global issue affecting the daily lives of women and girls worldwide.
“Notably, the draft resolution urges states to ‘condemn all harmful practices that affect women and girls, in particular female genital mutilations, and to take all necessary measures, including enacting and enforcing legislation to prohibit female genital mutilations and to protect women and girls from this forms of violence, and to end impunity’.
"We look forward to its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly, in December this year, which would demonstrate the strong commitment of the international community to support the actions of those member states and activists which have been at the forefront of the battle to challenge and put an end to this human rights violation both nationally and, increasingly, internationally”.

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