UN resolution on female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation - Amnesty International welcomes UN resolution on female genital mutilation. Amnesty International says Monday's adoption of a resolution against female genital mutilation (FGM) at the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee is a major boost to civil society organisations fighting for an end to the abusive practice.

'This is the first time the Assembly’s Third Committee, which addresses social, humanitarian and human rights issues, has adopted a resolution on FGM – the cutting of a girl’s genitalia clitoris often without anaesthetic in conditions that risk potentially fatal infection,’’ Amnesty said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement quoted José Luis Díaz, Amnesty International’s UN representative in New York, as saying 'FGM is an indictment of us all – that a girl or young woman can be held down and mutilated is a violation of her human rights and shockingly an estimated three million girls are at risk each year’’.

Diaz said the UN resolution places FGM in a human rights framework and calls for a holistic approach, stressing as it does the importance of empowerment of women, promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health and breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence.

PANA reports that the resolution makes concrete recommendations for prevention of FGM, for protecting girls at risk, ending impunity and provision of support services to those suffering from the lifelong consequences.

In that regard, Amnesty International urges governments to implement these recommendations urgently.

The resolution on FGM adopted by the Assembly’s Third Committee is expected to be endorsed by the General Assembly Plenary in December.

Although not legally binding, UN General Assembly resolutions carry considerable moral and political weight.

FGM is common in 28 countries in Africa as well as in Yemen, Iraq, Malaysia, Indonesia and in certain ethnic groups in South America.

(2012-11-27/afriquejet)