The BanFGM Conference on the worldwide ban on female genital mutilation is a high-level meeting called for by the Dakar Ministerial Sub-regional Consultation which was held in Rome on 30-31 January and 1 February 2017, at Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Italian Senate.

The Conference was organized by No Peace Without Justice and the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, in partnership with the African Women’s Forum, the Crans Montana Forum, Women Empower the World, AMREF Health Africa and Sénégambie, and with the political and financial support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Islamic Development Bank, Open Society Foundations, the Embassy of France in Italy, White & Case and AFV.

The battle to end FGM is emblematic of all battles that invoke the rule of law to promote individual rights and personal sovereignty and autonomy in the context of a broader political struggle for individual self-determination. This high-level meeting, which brought together ministers, parliamentarians and civil society from over 45 different countries, represented a culminant step of the BanFGM Campaign.

The purpose of the conference was to take stock of the results of the BanFGM Campaign, review its principal political milestones, and highlight its strategy of the engagement of activists, parliamentarians and ministers at the local, national and international level. It also provided e an opportunity to continue to widen the focus on FGM activism beyond Africa, highlighting how FGM is a persistent violation also in other regions of the world, and not only within immigrant communities, as evidenced by the universal mobilisation that led to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 67/146 banning FGM worldwide.

Documentation:

• Final Declaration adopted by the Conference participants (in French, also available in English and Italian)
• Program as delivered (soon also available in Italian, French)
• List of participants
• Concept note on the Conference and its objectives (also available in Italian, French)
• Strategic document (in French)
• Photo gallery
• Dakar Ministerial Sub-regional Consultation of the Conference by Radio Radicale
• Press Coverage

– For further information, please contact: Alvilda Jablonko on ajablonko@npwj.org or Nicola Giovannini (Press & Public Affairs Coordinator) on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 2 548 39 15.
– Visit the special page on NPWJ Gender and Human Rights Program activities