End practice of female genital mutilation: UN chief

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End practice of female genital mutilation: UN chief

10:20 CAT | 06 Feb 2017

According to the 2008/2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), an estimated 39.7 percent of girls and women in the larger Meru community had undergone FGM. However, the practice is widespread in areas of Tharaka Nithi. To address this, Plan has been implementing the âBuilding Skills for Girls for Lifeâ projectâ in Tharaka for the last three years with a focus on education. The aim of the project is to empower girls to make better informed decisions and reach out to boys and men to influence their attitudes and beliefs.

To further step up the fight against FGM, Plan is joining efforts with the cultural elders in the Tharaka Nithi community to seek their support in changing attitudes toward FGM and other forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) against girls and women. The elders have strongly condemned the practice, calling for FGM studies to be included in the school syllabus to educate school children about the dangers of the practice.

File photo

Making a call to end the practice female genital mutilation (FGM) that reflected deep rooted inequality between the sexes, ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, February 6, UN Secretary-General said, “Sustainable development demands full human rights for all women and girls. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development promises an end to this practice by 2030.”

This year, the observance has the theme “Building a solid and interactive bridge between Africa and the world to accelerate ending FGM by 2030.” Accordingly, the FGM is being seen as all the procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

Of late, the focus of the UN agencies is on ‘protecting women and girls from female genital mutilation using a human rights-based and culturally sensitive approach’.

According the UN, the practice FGM which is predominantly practiced in the Muslim countries ‘reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls’.

The practice also violates their rights to health, security and physical integrity, their right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and their right to life when the procedure results in death, holds the UN.

Source: Meri News