NPWJ contributes to the UNAF “IV International Conference on FGM: Prevention and Eradication Measures”, Madrid, Spain, 5-6 February 2015

5 Feb, 2015 | Press Releases

Madrid, Spain, 5-6 February 2015

On 5-6 February 2015, No Peace Without Justice will contribute to the “IV International Conference on FGM: Prevention and Eradication Measures”, organised in Madrid, Spain, by the National Union of Family Associations (Unión de Asociaciones Familiares (UNAF)) in collaboration with CaixaForum. The event is organised in observance of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation which is celebrated worldwide on 6 February to bring attention to this issue.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss measures and strategies to be implemented in order to address the practice of female genital mutilation, which affects more than 125 million girls around the world and half a million in Europe. During this two-day event, leading national and international activists, representatives of Spanish authorities as well as UN agencies and other international organisations, will share their experiences and highlight best practices in the prevention and fight for the elimination of FGM.

Participants will include Khady Koita, Senior Policy Adviser of NPWJ Gender & Human Rights Program and an award-winning activist who has been campaigning to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage for over 20 years. Ms Khoïta will take this opportunity to highlight the significance of the United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/146, adopted on 20 December 2012 and calling for a worldwide ban on FGM. The resolution, whose adoption is the culmination of years of advocacy efforts conducted by an ever-expanding coalition of NGOs and human rights activists including No Peace Without Justice, calls on all states to address and prevent this human rights violation through “all necessary measures, including enacting and enforcing legislation, to prohibit FGM and to protect women and girls from this form of violence, and to end impunity”.

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For more information, contact Khady Koïta on kkhoita@npwj.org, KAlvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the Gender and Human Rights Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org, phone: +32 494 533 915 or Nicola Giovannini, email: ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 15.