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UN Program to Combat Female Genital Mutilation Lau

Monday, December 1, 2008
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF and eight other UN agencies launched a new Joint Programme and Trust Fund in 17 countries in Africa to combat the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The program began in Djibouti in May 2008 and expanded to Ethiopia in November.

“UNFPA and UNICEF are committed to support the abandonment of FGM/C globally because of its harmful effects on the reproductive and sexual health of women and girls and it violates their rights and dignity.” (Cited in: Djibouti: First country to launch the joint UNFPA/UNICEF global program to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C, UNICEF Press Centre (8 May 2008))  According to UNICEF, FGM/C is a women’s rights issue and its reduction or elimination will improve maternal, reproductive, and sexual health, and help reduce child mortality. UNICEF estimates that 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM/C each year. The interagency program hopes to eliminate the practice worldwide within a generation.

Compiled from: Ethiopia: UNFPA, Unicef Launch Programme on FGM/C in Afar, The African Monitor (25 November 2008); Djibouti: First country to launch the joint UNFPA/UNICEF global program to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C, UNICEF Press Centre (8 May 2008); UN agencies unite against female genital mutilation, Joint Press Release, UNICEF (27 February 2008); Eliminating Female genital mutilation: An interagency statement, OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO (2008).

For More Information

For more information, please see the Global Gender Issues section of this website.

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