English
ItalianoCampaigning for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, Democracy, the Rule of Law and International Justice
BAN FGM CAMPAIGN
International Campaign to Ban Female Genital Mutilation Worldwide
High Level Parallel Event “A worldwide ban on FGM: from the Decision of the African Union to a UNGA Resolution”
New York, 27 February 2012
During the first week of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, No Peace Without Justice and the Ban FGM Coalition will hold a High Level Parallel Event “The worldwide ban on female genital mutilation: From the Decision of the African Union to a United Nations General Assembly Resolution”, which will take place 27 February 2012 in New York.
The Ban FGM Campaign
No Peace Without Justice, The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, Euronet-FGM and La Palabre have launched an International Campaign to promote the adoption of a Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly banning this widespread and systematic human rights violation. Our work is to inform and raise awareness among member States, UN Agencies and more widely among our fellow human rights activists about female genital mutilation and about the pivotal role that the United Nations General Assembly has in combating this human rights violation by banning it worldwide.
As part of the Campaign, many of us - Parliamentarians and civil society activists - have campaigned locally for our respective governments to support a United Nations ban on FGM, by getting parliamentary motions adopted, or other measures that commit the government. We are now taking our advocacy to the United Nations itself, going to New York to work with our countries’ missions to ensure that the spotlight remain on female genital mutilation and the need for a UNGA Resolution that bans the practice.
The direct role of activists and parliamentarians from countries afflicted by FGM in the United Nations negotiations is an important and innovative aspect of our work. Their participation is not mediated by the international NGOs or international coalitions, but rather follows directly from their own national and regional lobbying, with their own parliaments and ministries. We hope the action at the international level will increase their ability to effect lasting change in-country, and will lead to their full ownership of the success, when they will get a Resolution adopted, and their ability to make the most of it to change local legislation, policies and practices.
A Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly banning female genital mutilation worldwide will be a pivotal moment in the fight to bring an end to the practice, providing the recognition that FGM is a violation of fundamental human rights. The gravity and the dimensions of this violation demand the attention of the international community as a whole and require that international measures be put in place to eliminate it.
A Resolution with an explicit ban on female genital mutilation will help to complete the shift of perspectives on FGM from a problem of "public health" or a "cultural" problem, to its universal recognition as a human rights violation and a form of violence against women.
