A poster used to educate mothers in Djibouti about the harmful effects of FGM. |
ADDIS ABABA, 16 Jun 2006 (IRIN) - The Africa Union on Friday
urged its member states to put an end to the practice of female genital
mutilation (FGM), saying the ritual traumatised millions of girls and women on
the continent.
"We should take a moment to reflect on the traumatic
experience of women and girls who have gone through this atrocity of the FGM,"
said Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the AU commission, in a message on the Day
of the African Child, which is observed on 16 June every year. "We need to
mobilise our communities, religious leaders, traditional leaders, women and men
- through education and information - to change their mindset and involve them
in combating FGM."
The practice is a violation of the human rights and
dignity of girls and women, he said. Expressing the AU's concern over the social
and psychological effects of the practice on the health of girls and women,
Konare emphasised that the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child condemns child abuse and harmful traditional and cultural practices,
including FGM.
FGM involves the cutting and/or removal of the clitoris
and other vaginal tissue, often under unsanitary conditions, from the genitals
of girls and women. It is practised in at least 28 countries globally. The
United Nations Children's Fund estimates that up to 140 million girls and women
around the world have undergone some form of FGM. It is practised extensively in
Africa, and also found in parts of the Middle East and among immigrant
communities around the world.
Human rights activists have put pressure on
governments to legislate against FGM. At least 16 African countries have banned
the practice, and the Maputo Protocol, an African regional document that
explicitly prohibits and condemns FGM, came into force in November 2005.
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