On this International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational , together with the other members of the Ban FGM Coalition, renew the appeal to all States, and to all regional and international organisations, to demonstrate their commitment to human rights and particularly the rights of women by taking an unequivocal and joint stance in favour of the adoption this year by the United Nations General Assembly of a Resolution banning FGM worldwide.
Declaration by Alvilda Jablonko, FGM Program Coordinator of No Peace Without Justice:
“As recalled by United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-Moon’s Report “Ending Female Genital Mutilation”, released last month, the importance of a common and systematic approach to address female genital mutilation as a violation of human rights was reaffirmed in the Decision taken by the Assembly of the African Union during its seventeenth session. Crucially, this Decision expressed the strong support of the African Union and its member States for the adoption of a resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide at the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
We call upon all states, and all regional and international organisations, to support and promote the adoption this year of a UNGA resolution which would contribute significantly to a global recognition of FGM as a human rights violation against millions of women around the world. This is a shift that women’s rights advocates have tenaciously pushed for over the past two decades.
The international community’s universal condemnation of this harmful practice would have important consequences 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. It would also signal a fundamental step towards achieving a common and harmonised strategy, fostering the harmonization of legal tools and mechanisms against FGM not only in Africa but in all affected countries as well as providing strong and clear support for all activists working to bring an end to the practice.
The time has now come for us to join all the brave activists who have dedicated their lives to this issue and demand that the United Nations take responsibility and finally take the steps to put an end to this widespread and systematic form of violence committed against women and girls, in violation of their fundamental right to physical and personal integrity”.
Ban FGM Campaign
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), in coalition with the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, Euronet-FGM and the Senegalese NGO La Palabre, have cooperated closely on several initiatives to foster support for the adoption of UNGA Resolution banning FGM as a human rights violation. The campaign has gained the support of human rights activists, women’s organisations, parliamentarians and government representatives from throughout Africa and Europe.
For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org or Nicola Giovannini, email: ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 15. Check also the websites: www.npwj.org and www.banfgm.org
