……C’tee signify FG’s commitment to protect rights, dignity of women-UNFPA
By Hassan Zaggi
The Federal Government has inaugurated an ad-hoc committee with the sole purpose of the eliminating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria.
The ad-hoc committee has representatives from Family Health Department in Ministry of Health, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Information and Culture, Ministry of Youth and Sport Development, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, National Human Rights Commission, the Nigeria Police Force, UNFPA and UNICEF.
The Director/Head Family Health Department will serve as the Chair and the secretariat to be domiciled at the GASHE Division of the Department of Family Health in FMOH.
Speaking while inaugurating the committee in Abuja, yesterday, the Director Family Health at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Bolanle Alonge, disclosed that it is estimated that at least 200 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to the practice of FGM.
About 10% (200,000) of those affected, she said, reside in Nigeria.
Represented by the Director, Head of Gender, Adolescent School Health and Elderly (GASHE), Dr. John Ovuoraye, Alonge regretted that although there is decline in the national prevalence between 2013 and 2018, the practice of FGM still put some 3 million girls and women at risk by exposing them to the potential negative health consequences of the harmful practice every year.
“The National Policy and Plan of Action for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation provides a clear plan to guide activities of different stakeholders (Ministries, Departments, and Agencies) in all fields, systems and practices, including its request that attention be given to the identified emerging hotspot states.
“The overarching purpose is to ensure that men and women, boys and girls in all their diversity are well informed on the dangers of the practice of FGM and be fully involved in the elimination process of the barbaric custom,” she explained.
Dr. Alonge however, insisted that: “For the National Policy and Plan of Action to be implemented and make a remarkable impact in the larger society, there is the need for an Ad Hoc Committee with the purpose to support the NTC, which is the central coordinating and advisory body to the Federal Ministry of Health on issues of FGM.”
The ad-hoc Committee, according to her, is expected to establish linkages with all relevant working groups and coordinating bodies such as the Gender in Health Technical Working Group [GiHTWG] and VAC to develop referral pathways, develop joint capacity building activities, raise awareness initiatives to address FGM and other harmful traditional practices and share information.
On his part, Dr. Christian Sabum of the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA), said that the formation of the committee marked what he described as a momentous occasion, signifying the government’s unwavering commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of our girls and women.
He described FGM as a harmful practice with no health benefits and that the practice violates the human rights of women and girls.
“This year, 4.3 million girls are at risk of female genital mutilation, according to the latest UNFPA estimates.
“This number is projected to reach 4.6 million by 2030, as conflict, climate change, rising poverty and inequality continue to hinder efforts to transform gender and social norms that underpin this harmful practice and disrupt programmes that help protect girls,” he said.
Dr. Sabum, however, expressed concern that the medicalisation of FGM in Nigeria “remains a threat as well as the need for escalated awareness creation, these all must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
He, therefore, assured that the UNFPA remained “committed to addressing these and more through our 3 transformative results: to end maternal deaths, end unmet need for family planning and end GBV and harmful traditional practices including Female Genital Mutilation.”
The UNFPA led Joint Programme with UNICEF to Eliminate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), according to him, is the largest global and national programme to accelerate the abandonment of this harmful traditional practice and thereby advance the rights, health and well-being of women and girls.
He disclosed that the programme has catalysed a global movement to eliminate FGM and has shown an unparalleled ability to effect change also at the regional, sub regional, national and community levels.
