On the occasion of International Zero Tolerance Day to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), the Djibouti National Union of Women, in collaboration with the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and Family Planning Charged with relations with the Parliament, together with No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), organised a high level sub-regional conference, which was held under the auspices of the First Lady of Djibouti H.E. Mrs Kadra Mahamoud Haid, on 6 February 2014.

The meeting, entitled « For a Region without FGM: Banning all forms of female genital mutilation, including the Sunnah practice », brought together high-level government representatives, parliamentarians and civil society activists from Djibouti and neighbouring countries. Keynote speakers at the opening session included H.E. Ms. Kadra Mahamoud Haid, First Lady of Djibouti and President of the National Union of Women of Djibouti; Emma Bonino, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and founder of NPWJ, Khadijo Mohamed Diriye, Minister of Women and Family, Somalia; Edna Adan Ismail, President of the Edna Adan University Hospital; Shukri Harir Ismail, Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Somaliland; as well as, from Djibouti, Hasna Barkat Daoud, Minister of Women’s Affairs and Family Planning charged with Relations with the Parliament; Mr. Ali Farah Assoweh, Minister of Justice and Penitentiary Affairs and Mr. Aden Hassen Aden, Minister of Muslim Affairs, Culture and Waqf property, among others.

The purpose of this High-Level Meeting was to consolidate national and regional political commitment to achieve effective implementation of the Resolution banning female genital mutilation worldwide (A/RES/67/146), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2012.
This breakthrough document, whose adoption is the culmination of years of advocacy efforts conducted by an ever-expanding coalition of NGOs and human rights activists including No Peace Without Justice, explicitly calls the international community as well as individual states to take effective action to bring an end to this human rights violation through “all necessary measures, including enacting and enforcing legislation to prohibit FGM and to protect women and girls from this form of violence, and to end impunity”.
At a year from its adoption, it remains of critical importance to ensure the full and swift compliance with and implementation of its provisions and principles at the national, regional and global levels.

This conference was held within the framework of the partnership between NPWJ with the African Centre for Gender of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA-CAG) and the Inter-African Committee for Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC), and the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP), with the support of the Italian Cooperation and the Ministry Italian Foreign Affairs, as well as technical and financial support from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF).

Documentation:

• Final Declaration adopted
• Program of the event
• Concept note of the event
• Ban FGM Campaign
• NPWJ FGM Program activities
• Read the UN Resolution (A/RES/67/146) in: English, French

For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org / phone: +253 7776 9918 or +32 494 533 915 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 (0)2 548-39 15.