Imagine the typical life of a five year old girl; a happy and carefree life of a girl loved by her family and protected by her community. 

For millions of girls this carefree life comes to a sudden end. 

Every day more than 8,000 girls are at the risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting. A painful, irreversible and age-old tradition which will change her life forever.

Excellencies, Champions of a world free of FGM/C, Ladies and Gentlemen.

As Patron of the United Nations Population Fund, I am extremely happy for the opportunity that today brings – the opportunity to strengthen our focus on a very direct violation of the human rights of girls and of the women they will become: Female genital mutilation/cutting or FGM/C.

Let me begin by highlighting some important facts about FGM/C:

This term covers different cutting practices; the majority of these involve that some parts of a girls’ genitals are removed; most often by a traditional practitioner. In its most extreme form, called infibulation, girls are left with only a tiny hole for urine and menstrual flow to pass.

In all its forms, FGM/C is a violation of the human right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, and of the human right to be free of violence.

Evidence of FGM/C can be traced back to the time of the Faros and it predates the major religions of the world today. It is practiced in Christian, Islamic and other communities but it is not a requirement of any religion. 

Today, FGM/C is practiced primarily in 29 countries in a belt across Africa from the Atlantic coast to the Horn of Africa and in a few countries in the Middle East. However, there is evidence of practicing communities also in other parts of the world including in some Diaspora communities in the West. 

In about half of the countries where FGM/C is practiced it is primarily carried out on girls below the age of five; while in the other half of practicing countries it is mostly carried out on girls aged five to 14. In some communities it is performed on new-born baby girls and in others it forms part of a “rite of passage” for adolescent girls.

However, whether the ritual is performed on a girl aged three, eight or thirteen; all practicing communities see it as a prerequisite for acceptance and respect, for social inclusion and eventually for marriage.

As mentioned, more than 8,000 girls are at risk of FGM/C every single day. This adds up to more than three million girls every year and it is estimated that 125 million women have been cut and are living with the consequences.

Such consequences can take the ultimate toll of the life of the girl or woman: loss of blood or infection can cause immediate death; later in life cysts or complications related to childbirth can again put the woman’s life at risk. And even when the women’s life is not at stake, a life with FGM/C can be a life with pain.

Still the respect for this old practice is great in practicing communities where research shows that it is in particular the older generation, those with less household welfare and those with less education who remain in favour of the tradition.

These are the dire facts of FGM/C, the dire reality for millions of girls. 

But there is one message in particular which I would urge you to take to heart and remember: 

When parents subject their daughters to FGM/C, they do it because they want the best for their children. They do it out of love. We all want the best for our children. And if the alternative to FGM/C is that your daughter will be stigmatized, will be a social outcast with no prospect of ever having a family of her own, then FGM/C might indeed be the preferred choice. 

But that choice can change! Therefore my second message is that of hope and encouragement. 

Change is already taking place at the global level, where the UN General Assembly in 2012 called for elimination of FGM/C, and where – less than two months ago – the Human Rights Council of the General Assembly agreed on a resolution on intensifying global efforts and sharing good practices to effectively eliminate female genital mutilation.

Change is already taking place at the national level where most countries have now banned FGM/C and formulated policies to pave the way for elimination. And change is already taking place in the communities where FGM/C is happening.  

Village after village now better understand how FGM/C has been the cause of so many problems that their women live with and how FGM/C is a violation of agreed rights. 
Community after community realise that there is another choice for their daughters: that if only they agree that uncut women can be accepted and respected, then that can be the beginning of a better life for their women.

Things are also changing at the level of individual women and men. Despite support for the practice, we know that in almost all practicing countries, the percentage of girls and women who support FGM/C is substantially lower than the percentage of girls and women who have been cut: In the most striking example of Burkina Faso, 76 percent of girls and women have been cut, but only 9 percent favour the continuation of FGM/C.

We see the same picture among men; in most countries where we have data, the majority of boys and men think that FGM/C should end, and in some countries substantially more men than women want it stopped. 

And among youth – both among young women and men – more are against the tradition than among older generations.

As a result of such positive changes, the prevalence of FGM/C today is lower among the younger women than among older women. But with population growth increased numbers of girls could be at risk, if we do not continue and intensify efforts to reach the goal to end FGM/C within one generation. 

When realized, this will be a life-changing victory: for all the girls saved from this practice; for all the women spared from pain; and for the communities, which will have women in better health, wives more equal to their husbands, and more mothers surviving childbirth. 

This indicates that FGM/C is part of something much bigger. 

Over the past years, I have been a member of the High-Level Task Force for ICPD – the International Conference on Population and Development. In 1994, this UN conference was held in Cairo and a visionary and groundbreaking Program of Action was adopted by 179 governments. 

It moved population policy and programs away from a focus on human numbers to a focus on human lives and put the emphasis where is should be; on improving the lives of individual women and men.

The ICPD Programme of Action placed the human rights of women and men, girls and boys, including their rights to their sexual and reproductive health, at the centre of population and sustainable development in their communities.   

The ICPD High Level Task Force serves to provide a bold and independent voice on sexual and reproductive health and rights and ensure that it is a reality for all.  This involves the right to decide over your own body, the right to make free, informed and responsible decisions about one’s body, sexuality, health, relationships, and if, when and with whom to marry and have children with. 

These rights are the foundation of the Cairo Programme of Action and this year, where we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this agenda, it still remains highly relevant as illustrated by our discussion on FGM/C today.

So yes, FGM/C is part of something bigger, and let my third and final message today be, that when work is done, and progress is made, to end FGM/C, this is not only a wonderful goal in itself; it will contribute to giving girls and women more control over their own bodies, better lives and improved possibilities to contribute to development.

Some of the most eminent actors in making this happen are with us today and will discuss in more detail how they have contributed to the promising progress we already see, what they have learned on their journey, and how they believe we can reach the goal of ending FGM/C.

Thank you.