By No Peace Without Justice
Read the Press release in French, Italian
The Dakar Inter-Parliamentary Conference “Harmonisation of legal instruments prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM): Sharing successes - Consolidating achievements - Pursuing advances!Towards a United Nations ban on FGM”, organised by the Ministry of Family Affairs of Senegal in partnership with the international NGO No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Senegalese organisation La Palabre, and with the financial support of Italian Cooperation, UNOPS, UNFPA and the Municipality of Rome, concluded today with the adoption of a Final Declaration stressing the need to work for a universal ban on FGM which, as a wide-scale and blatant violation of the human rights of women and girls, represents a challenge for the international community.
The Conference, which saw among others the participation of Emma Bonino, Vice-President of the Italian Senate and founder of NPWJ, gathered parliamentarians, civil society activists and government representatives from Senegal and the other 27 African countries affected by the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), as well as representatives of the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament, the ECOWAS Parliamentary Assembly, the East African Legislative Assembly, and the relevant United Nations specialized agencies.
Among its main recommendations, the Final Declaration calls for the adoption of a resolution explicitly banning FGM worldwide as a violation of human rights of women and girls during the 65th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations and calls on all African States as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the East African Community (EAC) and the African Union to promote the adoption of this resolution within 2010.
Statement by Emma Bonino, Vice President of the Italian Senate and founder of No Peace Without Justice:
“In the struggle for the prevention and elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM), there is no miraculous solution but a complex strategy to implement. The adoption of effective national laws, their harmonization and the implementation of coordinated strategies to address the issue at regional and international level is essential to put an end to this brutal practice which violates the personal integrity and dignity of millions of women and girls worldwide.
Given its dissemination and impact, FGM is a real challenge for the international community. As the Final Declaration states, we must urge all affected States to take a leading and active role in the drafting and advocacy for a United Nations General Assembly Resolution explicitly calling for a global ban on FGM. Such a UN resolution could spur greater and more cohesive political mobilisation among activists, parliamentarians and governments mobilized in Africa and will help to create the foundations of a real and strong international alliance to defeat FGM once and for all”.
Download the Final declaration
Download the Final Communique
For further information please contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org / phone: +221 77 209 3583/ +32 494 533 915 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +32 494 533 915 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 (0)2 548-39 15 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +32 (0)2 548-39 15 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Check also our website: www.npwj.org
