The Campaign

Why is a UNGA Resolution Necessary?

1.It will be the first resolution of the UNGA that specifically addresses Female Genital Mutilation
2.It will be the first resolution of the UNGA that will specifically ban Female Genital Mutilation worldwide
3.It will reinforce the importance of previous steps by United Nations organs
4.It will show a clear commitment and political will to ban Female Genital Mutilation as human rights violations at the highest levels
5.It will provide support to countries that are struggling to put an end to this human rights violation
6.It will be a worldwide prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation as a violation of universal human right and violation of the physical and psychological integrity of women and girls
7.It will underscore the gravity and the impact that female genital mutilation has on the lives of millions of people around the world,particularly the women and girls of Africa
8.It will encourage the ratification and implementation of international and regional conventions that recognize Female Genital Mutilation as a human rights violation. Africa has already voiced its commitment regionally through the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: the countries of the continent are best placed to take the lead for the next step at the international level, in the United Nations General Assembly
9.It will give impetus to efforts to improve national anti-FGM law or to adopt one in the first place

10 Years of Campaign

DECEMBER 2000 - TOURELA, MALI In December 2000, Emma Bonino visited the village of Tourela, where the community had decided to end FGM and replace the practice with a celebration to mark girls’ passage to adulthood. 2000, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT At the initiative of Radical Party Members of the European Parliament and Emma Bonino,
the European Parliament adopted a Resolution condemning FGM and recognising it as
a violation of fundamental human rights. 6 MARCH 2001 - ROME, ITALY Upon her return to Italy from Mali, Emma Bonino organised a conference in the Italian Chamber of Deputies with activists from a number of African countries. Among the participants in the conference were Khady Koita, one of the most determined and committed activists in the fight against FGM. Read more 10-12 DECEMBER 2002 – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM In collaboration with EuroNet FGM, the Italian Women’s Association for Development (AIDOS) and seven African NGOs, NPWJ launched the international campaign “StopFGM!”. Read more 21-23 JUNE 2003 - CAIRO, EGYPT The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), in collaboration with NPWJ and AIDOS, organised the International Conference on “Legal Tools for the Prevention of FGM” under the auspices of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, and adopted the Cairo Declaration for the Elimination of FGM. Read more JULY 2003, THE “MAPUTO PROTOCOL” The member States of the AU (African Union) adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights ofWomen in Africa (commonly known as the ‘Maputo Protocol’). Article 5 of the Protocol requires the prohibition of FGM, recognised as a patent violation of human rights. Maputo Protocol
16-18 SEPTEMBER 2004 - NAIROBI, KENYA The Government of Kenya and NPWJ, in partnership with the Association of Media Women in Kenya, organized the “International Conference on FGM: developing a political, legal and social environment to implement the Maputo Protocol”; its final declaration, The Nairobi Declaration on Implementing the Maputo Protocol, stresses the importance of the use of law as a component of a multi-disciplinary approach to eradicate FGM. Read more 2-3 FEBRUARY 2005 - DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI Under the patronage of First Lady Kadra Mahmoud Haid, the government of Djibouti and NPWJ organised a sub-regional conference, "Towards a Political and Religious Consensus against Female Genital Mutilation". The final declaration, which followed a sometimes heated exchange among the religious dignitaries present, firmly stated that FGM has no religious justification either in the Quran or in any other core religious text. Read more 21-22 FEBRUARY 2006 - BAMAKO, MALI The government of Mali, NPWJ and various national NGOs organised the “Sub-Regional Conference on Female Genital Mutilation and the implementation of the Maputo Protocol”, attended by First Lady Touré Lobbo Traoré. The Conference provided the opportunity to highlight the existing consensus within the Sub- Region around the ratification of the Protocol and to discuss effective application of its obligations through the adoption at the national level
of legislative measures aimed at eliminating FGM. Read more 15-17 DECEMBER 2007 - KHARTOUM, SUDAN The Sudanese NGO Entishar Charity Society and NPWJ
organised a workshop on FGM Legislation and the Maputo Protocol,
within the wider context of the rights of women. Read more 27-28 MARCH 2008 - ASMARA, ERITREA The National Union of Eritrean Women (NEUW) and NPWJ organised
a sub-regional conference on the eradication of FGM. Read more 8-9 OCTOBER 2008 - DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI The National Union of Djibouti Women (UNFD) and NPWJ, under the auspices of the Presidency of the Parliament of Djibouti, organised a Parliamentary Workshop on “The Law against FGM and its Applicability. Read more 14-15 DECEMBER 2008 - CAIRO, EGYPT Five years after the International Conference in Cairo on “Legal Tools for the Prevention of FGM”, the Egyptian National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and NPWJ renewed their collaboration for the organisation of a High Level Meeting, under the patronage of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, to relaunch an international campaign aimed at rekindling worldwide attention on FGM. Read more AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2009 - BANJUL, GAMBIA AND BAMAKO, MALI NPWJ concentrated its efforts on mobilising political will towards the development of legislation banning FGM through supporting activists in Mali and, together with the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health ofWomen and Children (GAMCOTRAP), organising a National Parliamentary Workshop in Gambia. Read more 9-10 NOVEMBER 2009 – OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO Under the patronage of First Lady Chantal Compaoré,
the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity and NPWJ
organised the High-Level Meeting “From Cairo to Ouagadougou:
Towards a global ban of FGM”. Read more

4 FEBRUARY 2010 - NOUAKCHOTT, MAURITANIA The Mauritanian Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (AMPSFE - IAC Mauritania), the Mauritanian Network of Parliamentarians on Population and Development and NPWJ organised a parliamentary Workshop on “Female Genital Mutilation and the Law”. Read more 3-4 MAY 2010 - DAKAR, SENEGAL The Ministry of Family Affairs of Senegal in partnership with NPWJ and the Senegalese organisation La Palabre organised the Inter-parliamentary Conference “To harmonise the legal instruments prohibiting FGM: consolidating the achievements, sharing the successes, pursuing the advancements! Towards the ban of the practice at the United Nations”. Read more 8 JUNE 2010 - KAMPALA, UGANDA The Parliament of Uganda passed a motion ‘for a United Nations Resolution banning Female Genital Mutilation to be Presented by the Ugandan Government, the East African Legislative Assembly and the African Union at the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.’ A MOTION FOR A UN RESOLUTION TO BAN FGM

23 SEPTEMBER 2010 -NEW YORK, UNITED NATIONS
No Peace Without Justice, the IAC, La Palabre and Euronet-FGM organize a
high-level meeting on the International Campaign to Ban Female Genital Mutilation
worldwide at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held
on 23 September 2010, 6:00 – 8:00 pm, in New York.
The First Lady of Burkina Faso H.E. Mrs Chantal Compaoré, a long-time campaigner against Female Genital Mutilation and the Inter-African Committee Good-Will ambassador, will open the evening’s proceedings. Prominent human rights defenders, members of Parliaments and civil society activists from countries where Female Genital Mutilation is committed will take the floor to present the International Campaign to Ban FGM worldwide, in which they are actively involved through their advocacy with Member Countries, International Organizations and Institutions, to support a UN resolution against FGM. Read more 27 SEPTEMBER 2010 -ROME, ITALY
Roundtable Discussion organised by NPWJ and the Transnational Radical Party on "The Universal Ban on Female Genital Mutilation is a goal within close reach". Participants at the meeting included, among others, Emma Bonino, Vice-President of the Italian Senate;Elisabetta Belloni, Director General of the Italian Cooperation; Mariam Lamizana, President of the Inter-African Committee against traditional practices; Ndeye Soukèye Gueye, representative of the Ministry for Family Affairs of Senegal; Khady Koita, President of La Palabre; and Marie Rose Sawadogo, Secretary of the National Committee for the fight against the practice of FGM in Burkina Faso. Read more

Twenty-six years of international action has brought us to a significant moment in the fight against female genital mutilation. The path has been long and difficult, and it is now important to mobilise all possible efforts to promote and to ensure the adoption, at the 65th United Nations General Assembly in 2010, of a Resolution banning female genital mutilation and by doing so to strengthen this decisive battle for human rights worldwide.