World Leaders Urge UN to Ban Female Genital Mutilation

November 15, 2010

African Press Agency

Kampala (Uganda) Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni was among international leaders from 42 countries who have called on the UN general assembly to adopt a resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide on Monday.

Through an appeal published on Monday in the International Herald Tribune, political leaders from 42 countries around the world call upon the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a Resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide.

Among the numerous prominent personalities who have signed are First Ladies Janet Kataha Museveni of Uganda, Chantal Compaore of Burkina Faso, Mariana Mane Sanha of Guinea Bissau, Chantal De Souza Yayi, of Benin, and Clio Napoletano of Italy.

Others are the Nobel laureates Nadime Gordimer, Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi and Marty Ahtisaari, as well as parliamentarians, political leaders and civil society activists from countries concerned by the practice of FGM and others.

The appeal has been launched by the international NGO No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC), the European Network for the Prevention and Eradication of Harmful Traditional Practices (EuroNet FGM) and the Senegalese association "La Palabre", in the framework of a campaign aiming at promoting the adoption by the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly of a Resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide, and by doing so to strengthen this decisive battle for human rights worldwide.

A United Nations General Assembly resolution to ban FGM worldwide would step up and signal the international community’s universal condemnation of this blatant human rights violation, with important implications worldwide. It would serve to strengthen laws that currently ban FGM and provide new impetus for those nations that currently do not have such laws on the books.

Critically, a UN resolution would contribute significantly to a global change in the perception of FGM as a clear human rights violation against millions of women around the world, instead of masking it merely as a cultural, religious or public health issue.

This is a shift that women’s rights advocates have tenaciously pushed for over the past two decades.

Public launch of the Worldwide Ban FGM Campaign website

September 29, 2010

No Peace Without Justice

On 23 September 2010, in New York, No Peace Without Justice, The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children & Euronet-FGM organized a high-level meeting to present the International Campaign to Ban Female Genital Mutilation worldwide at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
 
Participants of the meeting, which was opened by The First Lady of Burkina Faso H.E. Mrs Chantal Compaoré, a long-time campaigner against Female Genital Mutilation and the Inter-African Committee Good-Will ambassador, included, among others, Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Emma Bonino, Vice-President of the Italian Senate and former European Commissioner, Rachel Mayanja, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Louise Arbour, President of ICG and former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Carol Bellamy, former Executive Director of Unicef.
 
The event provided an opportunity for prominent human rights defenders, members of Parliaments and civil society activists from countries where Female Genital Mutilation is committed to advocate for the international campaign, in which they are actively involved, aimed at promoting the adoption of a Resolution by the 65th United Nations General Assembly that universally and explicitly bans FGM.
 
The aim of the meeting was also to launch publicly the Worldwide Ban FGM campaign website (http://www.banfgm.org/) and the appeal calling for a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010.
 
The United Nations Resolution would be an extremely important instrument to underscore the gravity of Female Genital Mutilation as a human rights violation, specifically the right to physical integrity, that affects the lives of millions of women around the world. The UN Resolution, in addition to being a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation, would reinforce the regional and international conventions that recognize FGM as a violation of human rights, give new impetus to efforts to improve national laws banning FGM where they exist, or to adopt one, where they do not, as well as provide strong and clear support for all activists working to bring an end to the practice.
 

The Universal Ban on Female Genital Mutilation: A Goal Within Close Reach

September 27, 2010

No Peace Without Justice

On the occasion of the visit to Rome of four of the most committed African anti-FGM activists, the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational Transparty and No Peace Without Justice are organising a Roundtable Discussion on "The universal ban on female genital mutilation (FGM): a goal within reach", to be held in Rome (via di Torre Argentina 76) on 27 September 2010, from 11h00 to 13h00.

For nearly 30 years, Arab and African activists have been engaged in combating one of the most widespread and systematic violations of the most fundamental human rights, specifically the right to physical integrity. FGM is committed against 150 million women worldwide, in 27 African countries and in Yemen, as well as in Europe and North America, in which FGM is now practiced as a result of migration over recent decades.

In the last ten years, the longstanding dedication of women’s rights advocates and the increasing political commitment shown by affected States has led to significant progress. Twenty countries have currently enacted national legislation which prohibits and penalises FGM; the African Union has taken a strong position condemning the practice through the Maputo Protocol banning female genital mutilation as a violation of human rights; and many governments are engaged in the implementation of national action plans that, in conjunction with the law, provide information and awareness campaigns, especially in underdeveloped areas where the practice is more widespread.

These achievements have brought us to a pivotal moment in the fight against FGM. The universal ban on FGM, through the adoption of a specific resolution by the 65th General Assembly of the United Nations, is a goal within close reach.

Participants at the meeting will include, among others, Emma Bonino, Vice-President of the Italian Senate; Elisabetta Belloni, Director General of the Italian Cooperation; Mariam Lamizana, President of the Inter-African Committee against traditional practices; Ndeye Soukèye Gueye, representative of the Ministry for Family Affairs of Senegal; Khady Koita, President of La Palabre; and Marie Rose Sawadogo, Secretary of the National Committee for the fight against the practice of FGM in Burkina Faso.

For further information, please contact Carla Caraccio, email: ccaraccio@npwj.org, phone: +39 06 68979262-261. Check also the websites: www.npwj.org and www.banfgm.org

Protecting Women's Fundamental Rights

September 23, 2010

Franco Frattini

Deccan Herald 

Trying to simply impose behaviours by law is not enough: we have to go to the roots of the problem.

Promoting women’s rights at the global level must aim to enhance women’s role as pro-active individuals and as the essential and most effective channel for development and peace. However, to achieve this requires protecting women’s fundamental rights, first and foremost the right not to be subjected to violence. Italy has always been active with a number of initiatives and projects aimed at preventing violence against women. I am personally committed as a member of the ‘Network of Men Leaders’ launched last year by the UN secretary general within the scope of the campaign ‘Unite to End Violence Against Women.’ One of Italy’s main priorities in protecting and promoting human rights worldwide was combating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This practice is still a huge challenge in many parts of the world. In Africa, some traditional cultures consider it to be beneficial to women and their families, believing that it ensures girls a proper marriage and promotes chastity and family honour. Other countries in Europe, once unaffected by this practice, have become familiar with FGM over the last years, including Italy, where we have now an estimated 35,000 cases of FGM. Roots of the problem Female genital mutilation has been neglected for centuries. It was considered a kind of taboo, and the fact that it was often associated with ancestral traditions or religious myths complicated any open form of discussion or challenge. Illiteracy, poverty, and a lack of information have contributed greatly to the problem. Luckily, over the last decade, the interest in and commitment to end this practice has reached a new level. FGM is now generally considered a violation of the human rights and physical integrity of women and girls. Since the 1980s Italy has been actively engaged in programmes to combat and prevent FGM, starting in Somalia. In 2004 we initiated a partnership with Unicef aimed at the creation of a political, legal, and social framework for the abandonment of the practice of FGM. We are now one of the key donors to UN programmes in this field, including the Unicef/Unfpa joint programme on FGM. We are keen to reinforce our global partnership on this issue. The challenge is huge and requires a comprehensive approach and a wide range of strategies to be addressed effectively. One element is crucial to guide our action: understanding the social and cultural dynamics related to FGM. Trying to simply impose behaviours by law is not enough: we have to go to the roots of the problem and work on positive actions as well, especially in the fields of education and public awareness campaigns. I wish to clarify that there is no paternalism in our attitude nor have we any desire to impose ‘western standards’ on traditional cultures. Our objective is simply to support African ownership of this initiative and strengthen a process that Africa itself started a long time ago. Besides, we are not starting from scratch. We can now build on several initiatives that have taken place over the last months: in September 2009 we held in New York the first ministerial meeting on FGM, which brought together an initial group of 14 countries committed at the national and international level to support the fight against FGM; two months later, the government of Burkina Faso, together with Italy and the NGO ‘No Peace Without Justice’ organised a high-level regional meeting in Ouagadougou entitled ‘Towards a Global Ban of FGM’; in March 2010, an event at the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women was co-chaired by the Ministers for Gender Issues of Egypt, Italy and Senegal, and a resolution on ending female genital mutilation was adopted by consensus, tabled by the African Group, and endorsed later by ECOSOC. Last but not least, in May 2010 an Inter-Parliamentary Conference took place in Dakar, with representatives of parliaments and civil society from 28 African countries, and a declaration was adopted urging, inter alia, the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution banning FGM in the world  in 2010. We believe that the time has come to present an ad-hoc resolution on FGM at this session of the UN General Assembly. Such a resolution should be brief and touch on a selected number of priorities: a solemn ban on FGM, a reference to the main legal and cultural instruments underlying that goal, an appeal to the international community and the UN system, and a light follow-up mechanism. The main point, however, is that this would be the first time the supreme body of the United Nations had spoken out on this matter — a major achievement in itself. This is one of the goals that we have set for this upcoming session of the General Assembly and I trust that the international community will be able to achieve it.

Campaign against female genital mutilation, fund raising with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

November 17, 2009

A gala evening in support of the campaign against female genital mutilation. The event, held on Tuesday 17 November at Villa Letizia in Rome, was organised by the NGO No Peace without Justice, founded by Vice President of the Senate Emma Bonino, and thanks to the support of Anna Ventutini Fendi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini, Minister for Equal Opportunity Mara Carfagna and Mayor of Rome Giovanni Alemanno, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano.

The initiative, entitled “For a world with no violence against women and children”, was linked with the G8 meeting on violence against women held at the foreign ministry in Rome on 9 November, developing the by now essential concept public/private partnership from the point of view of enlarged development cooperation.

In the struggle against the scourge of female genital mutilation, the Vice President of the Senate stressed, “major results have been achieved, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini’s commitment to a UN initiative has been decisive to this human rights issue. We of No Peace without Justice have done and will continue to do everything possible, but it is important that all of us do our part”.