Conference on Female Genital Mutilation at the United Nations in Geneva.

On 10^th October IIMA participated in a panel organized by the Global Alliance against FGM on the most effective approaches for a successful fight against genital mutilation of babies, girls and women.

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”. 

Mariam Namogo, Coordinator of the project SILE (Soutien aux Initiatives Locales dans la Lutte contre l’Excision), from Mali, stated that women education is the first strategy to combat this traditional practice. There is no doubt on the circumstance that this practice hurts women physically and psychologically given that it can cause illness and death. The project carried out in Mali is having good result on developing a culture of respect for women’s health and physical integrity. In particular, trough music, art and public debate it is possible to educate girls and women on the danger related to this practice.

Elisabeth Wilson, member of Global Alliance, explained that female genital mutilations are degrading to women, have no ground in Islam and negate the United Nations charters on human and women’s rights. Moreover, men must also be considered targets of the awareness campaign and need to be taught about dangers and risks of this practice, since men are fathers, brothers and husbands of the victims and they are the decision makers in the villages. Given that infibulations is not a cultural practice but is considered like a rite of passage to the adulthood, man  have a fundamental role in persuade women and other men of the community in abandoning this harmful ritual although they still seem reluctant about its eradication.

Holger Postulart, another member of the Global Alliance explained how this problem is not confined in Arabian and African countries, but also in Europe and America. Moreover, he stressed out that the association financed mobile emergency units on the fields for medical and psychological treatments.

The effort made by Global Alliance is commendable and participants from different delegations, like Burkina Faso, hold up on the initiative giving their support to the campaign.