Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2026.

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2026.



Female genital mutilation violates the universal human rights to life, health and bodily integrity — and causes lasting harm to over 230 million women and girls worldwide.

It is rooted in the same gender bias that restricts girls’ access to education, narrows women’s opportunities for employment, and limits their participation in public life.

The world has committed to ending this dangerous practice by 2030. But in the meantime, 23 million girls remain at risk.

Getting to zero will require sustained political commitment — and sustained investment. Governments, civil society, health workers, and traditional and religious leaders all have a role to play. The United Nations is working on prevention and advocacy, ensuring that survivors have access to care, and empowering women and girls through education, employment, and leadership opportunities.

On this International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, let us renew our promise to protect the rights of women and girls everywhere, and ensure that they can live free from violence and fear.

Together, we can end this injustice once and for all.


 Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General.
Location: 405 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recommendation 2: In addition to training, health workers should have access to capacity-building resources including information, education and communication (IEC) materials and job aids, e.g. clinical guides, handbooks, algorithms, flow charts, anatomical models and other digital/print resources explaining the types of FGM, the associated complications and their management.

Image
  Strength of recommendation: Strong (very-low-certainty evidence) A key element of multisectoral efforts to promote FGM prevention is the creation and enforcement of national laws and policies to protect women and girls from all forms of violence, including FGM, by any person – including health workers. This is a vital component of FGM prevention as it helps to ensure adherence to human rights principles and establishes mechanisms of accountability for violating them. In addition to laws and policies, there is a need for professional codes of conduct that discourage health workers from performing FGM (i.e. medicalization of FGM), and also penalties for violating these codes of conduct. - Summary of the evidence-   The evidence review for this recommendation considered any interventions aimed at improving health workers’ access to capacity-building resources (or a combination of resources) and encouraging their direct application at the point of care. These capacity-bui...
Read more

Focusing particularly on countries where there is a high prevalence of FGM.

Image
  Dissemination and implementation of the recommendations in this guideline on the prevention of female genital mutilation and clinical management of complications are crucial next steps necessary to improve the quality of health care (prevention and management) and to improve health outcomes for women and girls living with or at risk of FGM . The following actions will be taken to ensure that the guideline is disseminated and implemented. The guideline will be available in electronic and print formats. It will be translated into Arabic and French and disseminated through a broad network of international partners, including WHO country and regional offices; ministries of health; WHO collaborating centres; professional associations; other United Nations agencies, particularly UNFPA and UNICEF, who lead the UNFPA–UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM; and NGOs. In addition, a separate executive summary publication aimed at clinicians and a wide range of policy-makers and programme m...
Read more

Scaling up cost-effective, evidence-based strategies.

Image
Since 2008, UNFPA and UNICEF have led the Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM , the longest and largest global initiative that aims to work with governments and partners to accelerate efforts and results . The program focuses on scaling up cost-effective, evidence-based strategies —such as community engagement and working with healthcare providers—to transform gender and social norms. Join us on 6 February 2026 in our call to action . Share how you are leveraging your influence or skill set to support the movement. Use the hashtag #Invest2EndFGM to lead the change. Access the Trello board here . #EndFGM
Read more