Campaign to ban FGM worldwide

General Objective
The objective of the initiatives in New York is to promote the interests of delegations from key countries and of UN Agencies for the adoption of a Resolution to ban FGM by the United Nations General Assembly.
 
Activities
a. Advocacy activities
Throughout 2012, NPWJ conducted a campaign targeting Missions of countries affected by FGM and UN Specialized Agencies (particularly UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNICEF and WHO), involving external interlocutors (women’s rights activists, NGOs, opinion leaders, etc) and sensitizing the international press, through ongoing advocacy and public events aimed at promoting support of the UNGA Resolution banning FGM by the largest number of States.
 
b. Coordination of the campaign by African activists and parliamentarians
In addition to direct advocacy and visibility initiatives on the Resolution, NPWJ also collaborated in the coordination of the parliamentarians and the activists mobilized through the initiatives in Africa, so that they could facilitate their respective governments taking a strong stand in favour of the Resolution, by interacting with their Ministries of Foreign Affairs as well as directly with their Missions to the UN.
This element was critical, not only to contribute to countries’ engagement at crucial moments of the negotiation, but especially to ensure that the Missions to the UN be made fully aware of the results of the campaign against FGM in their respective countries, where in the latest years the issue has overcome previously existing taboos and has finally entered in the public political debate.
 
Three main objectives guided the involvement of parliamentarians and activists in the Campaign, throughout 2012 : (a) to benefit from and foster their capacity to interact with their national authorities and directly with their delegations at the UN; (b) to obtain their input and support for the text of the Resolution, ensuring that it has a political profile and that it focuses on a ban of FGM; and (c) to ensure that the advocacy campaign be as inclusive as possible, so that upon the adoption of the Resolution, each of them can claim ownership of this key development in the fight against FGM at the international level, reinforcing their respective campaigns against FGM at the local level.
 
 
List of main events
 

High Level Side Event “Intensifying Global Efforts for Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation”
New York, United Nations, 25 September 2012

On the eve of the opening of the General Debate of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly,  the Missions of Burkina Faso and Benin to the United Nations convened a High Level Side Event “Intensifying Global Efforts for Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation”, which was attended by over 150 participants, among whom First Ladies, Ministers, Ambassadors and the representatives of UN Agencies and civil society.

 
 

High Level Parallel Event “A worldwide ban on FGM: from the Decision of the African Union to a UNGA Resolution”
New York, United Nations, 27 February 2012
During the first week of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, No Peace Without Justice and the Ban FGM Coalition hold a High Level Parallel Event “The worldwide ban on female genital mutilation: From the Decision of the African Union to a United Nations General Assembly Resolution”, which will take place 27 February 2012 in New York.

 
 
Commission on the Status of Women
New York, United Nations, 22 February-4 March 2011
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and several African partners of the international campaign for the adoption of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution banning Female Genital Mutilation took part into the works of the 55th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the functional commission of the ECOSOC exclusively dedicated to discuss and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide, from 22 February to 4 March 2011.
 
 

 
High Level Meeting on the International Campaign for a UNGA resolution banning FGM
New York, United Nations, 23 September 2010
No Peace Without Justice, the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children and Euronet-FGM organized a high-level meeting on the International Campaign to Ban Female Genital Mutilation worldwide at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September 2010 in New York.