Female Genital Mutilation otherwise known as Female Circumcision constitutes a major worry to state and non-state actors alike but one organisation at the forefront to arrest the barbaric practice is the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
According to UNICEF, Female Genital Mutilation remains widespread in Nigeria, although disparities in the practice exist.
The national FGM prevalence rate among girls and women aged 15-49 is 20 percent, with state FGM prevalence ranging from 62 per cent in Imo State to less than 1 per cent in Adamawa and Gombe States. The prevalence of FGM among this age group is highest in the South East (35 per cent) and South West (30 per cent) and lowest in the North East (6 per cent).
Disturbed by this worrying trend, UNICEF in collaboration with the Nigerian Government will on Thursday, 28 April 2022 in Abuja launch a community-led initiative to eliminate the harmful practice in five Nigerian states where FGM is highly prevalent: Ebonyi, Ekiti, Imo, Osun and Oyo. Nearly 3 million girls and women would have undergone FGM in these States in the last five years.
“The Movement for Good” will reach 5 million adolescent girls and boys, women – including especially pregnant and lactating mothers – men, grandparents, and traditional, community and religious leaders, legislators, justice sector actors, and state officials through an online pledge to ‘say no’ to FGM.
“The movement will mobilise affected communities for concrete action at the household level to protect girls at risk of FGM. It will challenge misconceptions on FGM and the discriminatory reasons it is practiced and break the silence around the practice together with communities,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.
With Nigeria ranking third worldwide on FGM practice, the need to launch the 5 million Nigeria’s Movement for Good Initiative to act to end FGM in Nigeria is called for. An initiative aiming at mobilizing members of public to act against FGM. A practice that violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity; the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and the right to life, in instances when the procedure results in death. We all have a role to play in protecting girls and women to finally eradicate this practice.