Britain has pledged up to £35 million ($52 million) to help eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) in a generation - the largest single donor contribution to target the brutal practice.
“It is time to break the taboo on genital mutilation. For too long the international community has been cowardly on this subject, finding it too difficult to tackle,” said Britain’s international development minister Lynne Featherstone.
“My aim is to ensure that very soon FGM is as outdated a practice as foot-binding.”
FGM, the removal of all or part of the female genitalia, is found in many African countries, parts of the Middle East and Asia, as well as immigrant communities in western countries.
The World Health Organisation estimates up to 140 million girls have undergone FGM and three million are at risk every year.
The practice, often seen as a prerequisite for marriage, can cause serious physical and psychological problems. Girls can bleed to death or suffer childbirth complications later in life.
Featherstone, speaking at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York this week, said the new programme aimed to reduce FGM by 30 percent in at least ten priority countries in the next five years.
The programme will:
- Support work to end FGM in at least 15 countries by working directly within local communities
- Work with governments and traditional leaders to back laws to end FGM
- Fund research into the most cost-effective approaches to ending FGM
- Support diaspora communities in the UK to help change practices in their countries of origin
Featherstone stressed most families want the best for their children and that education and changing cultural norms – rather than mere condemnation - was key to eliminating FGM.
The United Nations passed a resolution calling for a global ban on FGM in December. Britain’s Department for International Development said its programme would build on this momentum and contribute to its overall ambition to end FGM within a generation.