UNICEF, others urge health workers to mobilise against FMG

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have called for global efforts among health workers, including midwives, nurses and gynaecologists, to mobilise against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practice.

  In a joint statement signed by UNICEF Chief Executive, Mr. Anthony Lake; UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin; International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) President, Ms. Frances Ganges and   International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) President, Prof. Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, UNICEF said the call   became necessary because FGM “violates the human rights and undermines the health and well-being of some three million girls each year.”  

  FMG, also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. Typically carried out by a traditional circumciser with a blade or razor – with or without anaesthesia, FGM is concentrated in 27 African countries, Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan, and found elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East, and among Diaspora communities around the world. 

Nigeria, due to her large population, has the highest absolute number of FGM, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 130 million circumcised women in the world. 

The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is a UN-sponsored awareness day that takes place February 6 each year.It is an effort to make the world aware of FGM and to promote its eradication.

  The statement, which was made available to The Guardian by UNICEF communication specialist, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku UNICEF yesterday stated that “more than 130 million girls and women in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is concentrated today have undergone some form of FGM,” adding that  “the impact on their lives is enormous.”

  The statement added that the support of health workers in the global effort to end FGM is critical. 

 The statement read: “Female genital mutilation (FGM) violates the human rights and undermines the health and well-being of some 3 million girls each year.  More than 130 million girls and women in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is concentrated today have undergone some form of FGM – and the impact on their lives is enormous.

 “Worldwide, we are seeing increasing commitment by communities and governments to eliminate FGM – but it is not enough.  Today, as we mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, we call on all health workers — from midwives and nurses to obstetricians and gynaecologists — to mobilize against this dangerous, deeply harmful practice. 

 “The support of health workers in the global effort to end FGM is critical.  Front-line health workers have inside knowledge of the social dynamics in the communities they serve and the social norms that perpetuate FGM, and they can speed up the rapidly declining support for the practice.  Their patients know and trust them. 

 “Health workers also have a deep understanding of the harmful consequences of this practice.  They see the urinary, menstrual, and obstetric complications — including haemorrhage, infection and death — caused by it. And, they also witness the emotional wounds FGM inflicts, trauma which often lasts a lifetime.

 “Health workers are also uniquely well-positioned to lead the effort to resist a disturbing trend that has emerged in many countries: The medicalization of FGM.Around one in five girls has been cut by a trained health-care provider.  In some countries, this can reach as high as three in four girls.  

 “FGM is illegal in many countries, and medical providers who perform it in these places are breaking the law.  But in every country, whether legal or not, medical providers who perform FGM are violating the fundamental rights of girls and women.  They are also lending tacit approval to this wrongful practice and defying the most basic precept of medicine: Do no harm.

 “Health professionals – especially front-line health workers – may often be under considerable pressure to engage in FGM.  But with support to resist this pressure, they can become part of the solution.  

 “So, first and foremost, we call on all health workers to abandon the practice of FGM – and to use their influence, not only in the communities where they work, but also with their colleagues to accelerate the abandonment of FGM everywhere.  We also call on all health workers to protect the sexual and reproductive health of those who have already undergone FGM.