The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF and eight other UN agencies launched a new Joint Programme and Trust Fund in 17 countries in Africa to combat the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The program began in Djibouti in May 2008 and expanded to Ethiopia in November. “UNFPA and UNICEF are committed to support the abandonment of FGM/C globally because of its harmful effects on the reproductive and sexual health of women and girls and it violates their rights and dignity.” (Cited in: Djibouti: First country to launch the joint UNFPA/UNICEF global program to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C, UNICEF Press Centre (8 May 2008)) According to UNICEF, FGM/C is a women’s rights issue and its reduction or elimination will improve maternal, reproductive, and sexual health, and help reduce child mortality. UNICEF estimates that 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM/C each year. The interagency program hopes to eliminate the practice worldwide within a generation.
Compiled from: Ethiopia: UNFPA, Unicef Launch Programme on FGM/C in Afar, The African Monitor (25 November 2008); Djibouti: First country to launch the joint UNFPA/UNICEF global program to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C, UNICEF Press Centre (8 May 2008); UN agencies unite against female genital mutilation, Joint Press Release, UNICEF (27 February 2008); Eliminating Female genital mutilation: An interagency statement, OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO (2008).