In the framework of the ninth session of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, which was held in Geneva on 6 – 10 August 2012, the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT) and No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) have submitted a written statement providing comments on the draft study on the “Promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind”, focusing on the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The NRPTT and NPWJ call on the Human Rights Council to signal unequivocally the international community’s universal condemnation of FGM as a wide-scale and blatant violation of the fundamental human rights of women and girls, and to support the actions of those Member States and activists which have been at the forefront of the fight against FGM both nationally and, increasingly, internationally.
The time has come for all States to take responsibility and give heed to the voices of the innumerable human rights groups, women’s associations and individual advocates that fight a daily battle to challenge this harmful practice and work towards its elimination. The NRPTT and NPWJ, together with the other members of the Ban FGM Coalition, look forward to the United Nations General Assembly adopting by the end of this year, at its 67th Session, a Resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide, which would demonstrate the strong commitment of the international community to human rights and particularly the rights of women and girls.
Ban FGM Campaign
Over the past years, the members of the Ban FGM Coalition have collaborated on several initiatives to raise awareness internationally about the need for a UNGA Resolution banning this human rights violation, gathering the support of human rights activists, women’s organizations, parliamentarians and government representatives from throughout Africa and Europe.
For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, at ajablonko@npwj.org, phone: 32 2 548 39 13 or Nicola Giovannini, Public Affairs Coordinator on ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 15.
