On the International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on February 6, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message called for all people and partners to help end the deeply harmful practice and create a future “where every girl can grow up free of violence and discrimination, with full dignity, human rights and equality.”
The medical community’s active support for the rights of girls and women to be protected from FGM has been critical in achieving the renewed commitments of Member States as reflected in the recent United Nations General Assembly Resolution on this issue.
If everyone is mobilized, women, men and young people, it is possible, in this generation, to end a practice that currently affects some 130 million girls and women in the 29 countries where we have data, he said.
