UNICEF calls for enforcing ban on FGM

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday called on governments to enforce a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM). In a statement to coincide with the first ever International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM, UNICEF head Carol Bellamy said that governments and communities must take urgent action to outlaw the traditional custom which some 2 million girls undergo each year. “This practice is not only a violation of every child's rights, it is physically harmful and has serious consequences for a girl's health,” Bellamy said in the statement, released by UNICEF in Ethiopia. “This is why governments and communities alike must take immediate action to put an end to this practice." “There is no better time to start taking action than today, the very first International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM,” she added. She said that world leaders must abide by their commitment to end the practice by 2010. “These girls deserve nothing less,” Bellamy said. “The 100 million women who endured female genital mutilation or cutting as young girls are living proof that the world has failed to protect them,” she said. Click here for full statement