By Ernest Sumelong
The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, has called for greater commitment and action by governments to end female genital mutilation.
UNFPA Executive Director, Ahmed Thoraya Obaid's, call for commitment against the vice came on February 6, the International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation. He also challenged governments to protect the rights of women and girls.
"We call on leaders to take action to end female genital mutilation in line with the United Nations resolution adopted last year. In the resolution, governments reiterated that female genital mutilation violates the rights of women and girls."According to Obaid, governments had said the practice constitutes an irreparable, irreversible abuse.
UNFPA revealed that there is mounting medical evidence that female genital mutilation poses a serious threat to the health of women and girls, increasing their vulnerability to HIV, raising the risk of maternal and infant mortality, and harming their psychological and sexual and reproductive health.
Research reveals that an estimated 100 million to 140 million women and girls worldwide have undergone the practice and 3 million more girls are at risk each year. Many women and girls are traumatized by the experience and suffer in silence, afraid of being excluded from their communities.
In Africa and Cameroon in particular, the practice is rife. In the Southwest and Northern Provinces of Cameroon, many women and girls have been subjected to the gruesome practice, with some of them bleeding to death. In recent years, feminine and human rights groups in Cameroon began lobbying for laws to end female genital mutilation. They called on policy makers and administrative authorities to enact laws prohibiting it.
UNFPA, therefore, called on governments to develop effective policies for the elimination of female genital mutilation."We urge all decision makers, at all levels, to play leadership roles in eliminating female genital mutilation," Obaid said.
The UNFPA Executive Director maintained that intensified efforts are urgently needed to stop the practice in all its forms.
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