WIFE of the Nigerian President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has said that the practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) can be ended within a generation.
Buhari, who spoke in Abuja, at the formal launch the national response to eliminate the practice, in Nigeria urged the wives of Governors of states where the harmful practice is rampant, to be the voice of the campaign to end FGM/C in their various states.
The event was a collaboration between the Federal government and the Joint UNFPA/UNICEF Programme on FGM/C Abandonment, in partnership with several civil society organizations.
“We
are mothers and women and have the primary role to use our privileged positions
to make lives better for Nigerians, especially women and girls.
“I
urge you to be vocal on the need for FGM/C to end in Nigeria and take action
that will enable this to happen,” Buhari noted.
FGM/C is an extremely harmful traditional practice, documented in 28 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
It comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The practice exposes girls and women to severe and sometimes life-threatening health complications, including hemorrhage, tetanus, sepsis, urine retention, sexual dysfunction and infertility; women who have undergone FGM/C are twice as likely to die during childbirth, and their babies are more likely to during or just after birth.
UNICEF
Nigeria Representative, Jean Gough, stated: “Not one of the myths surrounding
this practice has any basis in truth. The only truth is that on every level
this is a harmful and brutal practice that has a detrimental impact on the
health and the human rights of women and girls.”
Also
speaking, UNFPA Nigeria Representative, Mrs. Ratidzai Ndhlovu described FGM as an extreme form of violence against women and girls.
“It
violates her reproductive rights and her bodily integrity. To end this harmful
practice, we must understand not only where and how it is practiced, but also
the social dynamics that perpetuate it, so we can use that knowledge to
persuade practitioners to end the practice,” she argued.
The
national response to accelerate change and eliminate the practice within a
generation – estimated at 20 years – will be based on information gathered in a
study on the beliefs, knowledge, and practices of FGM/C that was conducted last
year by UNICEF, UNFPA and partners in six high-prevalence states: Ebonyi,
Ekiti, Imo, Osun, Oyo and Lagos.
The
findings of the study highlight the need for sustained communication with
communities and collaboration with the media to promoting the social change
needed for FGM/C abandonment.
Data
from the National Demographic Health Survey 2013, shows 25 percent of women in
Nigeria have undergone FGM/C, although the practice is slowly declining.
Little
is known about the origin of FGM/C, which predates contemporary world
religions. It is widely practiced in Nigeria, where an estimated 19.9 million
Nigerian women have undergone the procedure.
A
new global target and call to action to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation
(FGM) by 2030 was launched on February 6, International Day of Zero Tolerance
for FGM by UNFPA Executive Director, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, and UNICEF
Executive Director, Anthony Lake.
