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Press release
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation
6th February 2020
Theme:
Invest in youth, both boys and girls, through training and information, in order to reach the objective of zero tolerance to female genital mutilation by the year 2030
In February 2003, the Inter-African Committee on traditional practices affecting the health of women and children (IAC) closed, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an important international conference on female genital mutilation entitled: International conference on zero tolerance to female genital mutilation.
During this conference, the 6th February, date of the creation of the Inter-African Committee, was proposed by IAC and accepted by the United Nations as the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.
This 6th February 2020 thus marks the 17th International day of zero tolerance to female genital mutilation, during which the whole world should reaffirm strongly and with determination its firm commitment to the noble struggle for the total elimination, by 2030, of these practices which constitute a serious and flagrant violation of the rights of women and girls.
It is important to stress that wherever this practice exists it is steadily decreasing, thus showing the rejection of this plague by the new generation.
This is why the effective involvement of adolescents and youth (girls and boys, attending school or not) in this struggle should receive as an essential support an in-depth knowledge of these practices, i.e. their origins, background, consequences, strategies and, above all, the actions to be undertaken in order to prevent and combat them.
For this, the Inter-African Committee urgently appeals to all its partners (communities, regional and international organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations, religious organizations, women and men of good will) to support the training and information of adolescents and youth in a synergy of action.
For its part, the Inter-African Committee will continue, as it has been doing for the last 36 years, to hold the torch high in order to illuminate the difficult and winding road that will inexorably lead to a world without female genital mutilation by the year 2030. It is unacceptable to let 68 million girls be submitted to this tragic practice in violation of their rights and their physical and psychological integrity.
Together we will defeat the practice of female genital mutilation.
For the Inter-African Committee
Madame Sika Kaboré
Good-will Ambassador of the Inter-African Committee