Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
Renew commitment to preventing female genital mutilation through targeted multilateral and bilateral programmes.
Recommendation
The UK Government has long been an opponent of female genital mutilation (FGM) and has worked against FGM both bilaterally and multilaterally. The UK Government should renew its commitment to preventing female genital mutilation through funding multilateral and bilateral programmes, including those tackling the medicalisation of FGM and ‘cross-border cutting’, which involves moving women and girls across national borders to undergo FGM or cutters across national borders to perform the practice. (Paragraph 55) Sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS
Government Response Summary
The FCDO agrees and reaffirms its commitment to ending FGM, detailing ongoing funding for the Africa-led Movement (£35m) and the UN Joint Programme. It also commits to using diplomatic levers, potentially sanctions and travel bans, mobilising new funding for grassroots organizations, and stepping up international leadership on FGM.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Agree 49. The FCDO remains a major donor and global champion for ending FGM. UK aid programmes have already helped over 10,000 communities, representing over 27 million people, pledge to abandon FGM. We are building on and scaling up strong results through Africa, survivor and girl-led programming to deepen our impact in high prevalence countries. 50. The FCDO has supported the Africa-led Movement to end FGM since 2013. The current phase of the programme (£35m, 2019–2027) is working with activists, communities, and grassroots organisations to take evidence-based efforts to end FGM to scale, with a focus on Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Senegal. It includes leadership training to survivors of FGM to enable them to safely advocate for ending FGM. 51. Under the programme, the FCDO also funds the United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) to end FGM which focuses on working with national governments to get laws, policies and costed action plans in place banning FGM. The UNJP also encourages gender and social norms change and strategies for FGM prevention and surveillance through working with community leaders, lawyers, schools and empowering adolescents through clubs and digital spaces. 52. The Government is clear that there is no medical justification for the practice and that FGM is a human rights violation under all circumstances. The UK will not hold back on taking a firm stance on the abandonment of FGM, including where critics may call this an imposition of Western values. The UK continues to be led by the Africa-led civil society movement to end FGM, centring the voices of survivors and the most affected communities, plays a leading role and is a powerful reminder that this is a shared global objective. 53. In light of systematic attempts by regressive actors to roll back women’s and girls’ rights, the Government is making use of a whole range of diplomatic and development levers to tackle FGM including, potentially, sanctions and travel bans. We will continue efforts to mobilise new funding for grassroots organisations on the frontlines. We will not shy away from having difficult conversations and taking a tough stance towards the abandonment of FGM. 54. We are also stepping up our international leadership on FGM as a neglected issue at key international moments and through senior strategic dialogues, in order to increase political will and evidence-based financing to meet the scale of the challenge.