By IJEOMA UKAZU
The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF has disclosed that no fewer than 594 communities have renounced the act in Nigeria in its drive to achieve zero tolerance policy on Female Genital Mutilation, FGM.
Nkiru Maduechesi, the Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Akure, the Ondo state capital at a three-day workshop for training of law enforcement agencies and judiciary officers on the anti female genital mutilation law.
The training which was organised by the Federal Ministry of Information, Child Rights Information Bureau in Collaboration with UNICEF and participants were drawn from Osun, Oyo and Ekiti states.
According to Maduechesi, the organisation is driving towards achieving zero tolerance and to make law enforcers to be more aware of the dangers of FGM.
She said part of the problem facing the frontline workers in eradicating the menace totally was because it was a sort of social norm and people, including some law enforcement agencies, are not seeing it as a crime.
Maduechesi, however, said the essence of the training workshop on enforcement of FGM laws across the states and to strengthen the knowledge of law enforcers towards enforcement of laws to protect our girl child.
She noted that FGM was one of the worst human rights violations that had been in the country for generations because of the lifelong traumatic effects that a girl child would carry for the rest of her life.
“As a social norm, people are no seeing it as a crime, as an offence, that is why UNICEF is investing together without partners in community dialogue, moving from community to community.
“Since the inception of this programme with our partners, UNFPA, we have supported over 594 communities to have public declaration from their traditional ruler to the least person.”
“Actually we have evidence that this girl child violence is reducing, we can say that we are making progress.
“According to the current national demographic survey, we have move from 25 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent but what we are looking for is zero tolerance to violence against girl child.
“All stakeholders should come together to put this in front as the agenda to fight against child violence,” she said.
She said the training would also help stakeholders on how best to get justice for survivors of FGM and how to strengthen the system to achieve zero tolerance.