Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
In ending the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in which Nigeria contributes 10 percent to the practice with 19.9 million survivors, the federal government has lauded five states over its commitment to ending the menace.
Some of the states are Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ebonyi and Imo.
In her speech during the launching of the Movement for Good to end FGM in Nigeria, the minister of women affairs and social development, Paullen Tallen, said the move in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is targeted at mobilising five million Nigerians to act in ending its further reoccurrence.
With the theme: ‘Accelerating investments to end FGM: Invest and don’t resist’, she said the five states, which accounted for the highest practice, included South-south zone with 77 percent among adult women which is followed by the South-east zone with 68 percent and South-west zone with 65 percent.
She emphasised that eliminating FGM is crucial to realising many of the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including targets on health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth.
Tallen further noted that its continuous practice would deny girls and women the right to quality education, opportunities for decent work and their health, particularly sexual and reproductive.
“It is disheartening to realise that the practice which involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia is done mostly by women and in some cases by medical personnel.
“Out of 200 million Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) survivors in 30 countries of the world, Nigeria contributes 10 percent of the abuse on women and girls which is approximately 19.9 million.
“In Nigeria, the prevalence among girls aged 0-14 years is worryingly on the increase from 16.9 percent (NDHS 2013) to 19.2 percent (NDHS 2018). These negative results threaten to roll back progress made in previous years.
“Since 2014, UNICEF and UNFPA, in partnership with government and other partners implemented the joint programme on the elimination of FGM in five states namely: Imo, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Oyo and Osun with the aim to strengthen legal and policy development and implementation, improve access to quality healthcare, protection, legal and social services, support the education of girls, and to mobilise communities in the need to eliminate FGM,” she stated.
In his remark, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, called on other state governments to scale up interventions to end the practice. While eulogising the five aforementioned states for their zeal in ending the scourge, he called out Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa States to speed up action and make ending FGM a matter of priority.
He said: “Women and girls must be saved from this terrible experience. State governments should scale up interventions to end the practice. I call on Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa States-The call is a national intervention and the programme a sober reflection to end the practice.”
