In West Africa: Mutilating Girls No More
A woman and her daughters stand in their home, in the village of Cambadju in Bafat Region.
Their village is the first in the country to renounce female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The harmful traditional practice, which can result in irreversible, life-long health and other complications, as well as psychological harm, was renounced in the village that same day, during a ceremony organized with support from the international NGO Tostan, a UNICEF partner.
The event was attended by girls and young women, former traditional cutters, delegates from youth and women‚ Äôs groups, government officials and others. Between 2006 and 2010, the percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years of age subjected to FGM/C in Guinea-Bissau increased from 45 per cent to 50 per cent‚ Äì and reached 94 per cent in eastern parts of the country.
Together with Tostan and other partners, UNICEF supports interventions that help communities decide for themselves to renounce the practice.
