Tomorrow will open, in Bamako, the Sub-Regional Conference on « Female Genital Mutilation and the Implementation of the Maputo Protocol» organised by the Government of Mali, through the Ministry for the Promotion of Woman, Childhood and Family, and the international non-profit organisation No Peace Without Justice, with the financial support of the Italian Cooperation and UNICEF. The Conference, that will be held on 21 and 22 February, is part of NPWJ’s international campaign for the abandonment of FGM and the implementation of the Maputo Protocol, which has already had a significant impact through a range of activities, including the Cairo Conference of June 2003, the Nairobi Conference of September 2004 and the Djibouti Conference of February 2005.
The Conference will focus on the effective application of the obligations contained in the Maputo Protocol, which has been described as the first “real Charter of Rights” for African women and which entered into force on 29 November 2005 following the deposit of the fifteenth ratification. Article 5 of the Maputo Protocol explicitly condemns the practice of Female Genital Mutilation as a violation of fundamental human rights. The Conference will be inaugurated by the First Lady of Mali, Ms Toure Lobbo Traore, President of the National Foundation for Childhood, and by Emma Bonino, Italian Radical MEP and founder of NPWJ. More than 200 participants are expected, among whom representatives of governments, parliaments and civil society from Mali and all Western African countries, as well as representatives of the UN agencies based in Mali.
In the afternoon, Emma Bonino will visit the village of Fatime Bou Bou, located at 40 km from Bamako, one of the numerous villages where, thanks to the work carried out by local associations partners of NPWJ, the practice of FGM has been abandoned. This initiative illustrate the success of a field work that should be supported by the adoption at national level of legislative measures aimed at bring an end to FGM.
For further information, contact Mr Nicola Giovannini, tel: +32 2 548 39 14; fax: +32 2 548 39 19; email: ngiovannini@npwj.org
