HUMAN RIGHTS: MSF denies adopting 'pragmatic approach' to female genital mutilation

The international medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Wednesday stated that its position on the issue of female genital mutilation had been misrepresented in a report in the British weekly newspaper 'The Observer' which said it adopted a "pragmatic approach" to female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM). MSF-France president Philippe Bikerson told IRIN that there was "no way that MSF can in any way accommodate the practice", which is widespread from West Africa to the Horn. "MSF definitely does not have what has been pictured as 'a pragmatic approach'. "It takes a principled approach on a complex issue we consider a real problem and don't encourage or help the practice in any way", he added. The 'Observer' article stated that given the existence of FGM, individuals within the organisation sometimes preferred to see it happen in the best conditions possible and that if that was the decision, MSF supported them even though it was not its policy. "In some cases our volunteers would prefer to see it happen in sanitary conditions with clean and sharp implements rather than a traditional, rusty life", it quoted an MSF spokesman as saying. Medecins Sans Frontieres told IRIN that the "pragmatic approach" attributed to it had been "a misrepresentation" of its position on FGM - which it absolutely opposed on both medical and human rights grounds - based on a naive attempt to explain its reluctance, as a western organisation, to dictate to people that their ritual practices were unacceptable as well as the difficulties that could face health workers on the ground when faced with the practice. If individual MSF workers had facilitated it in any way, even in a misguided attempt to minimise associated medical risks, "it was a mistake, it was in no way MSF policy and no way something that can be tolerated within MSF", Bikerson added. "I cannot assimilate this kind of female cutting to a surgical act ... a ritual act it is, but not a surgical, medical act", he said. MSF did all it could, internationally, nationally and through changing attitudes at field level, to eradicate FGM and totally rejected whatever cultural and philosophical reasons might be presented to justify it, he added. The organisation's policy that its staff, equipment and facilities could not be used for female genital mutilation was absolutely clear and it was "totally ridiculous to present this (pragmatic) policy as MSF policy", Bikerson said.