{"id":61674,"date":"2024-07-19T10:01:40","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T10:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law"},"modified":"2024-07-19T10:14:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T10:14:48","slug":"un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law","title":{"rendered":"UN, Others Welcome Gambia\u2019S Decision to Keep FGM Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>Senior United Nations and World Health Organisation officials have welcomed the decision by The Gambia to uphold its ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), calling it a critical win for women\u2019s and girls\u2019 rights.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Gambian lawmakers voted on Monday to reject a bill that sought to overturn a 2015 law against the harmful practice, which involves cutting or removing some or all of the external female genitalia.<\/p>\n<p>FGM is mostly carried out on infants and young girls. According to doctors, it can inflict severe immediate and long-term physical and psychological damage, including infection, later childbearing complications, and post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFollowing the vote today by the National Assembly of The Gambia, we commend the country\u2019s decision to uphold the ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), reaffirming its commitments to human rights, gender equality, and protecting the health and well-being of girls and women,\u201d the UN officials said in a joint statement, adding that they remain steadfast in their commitment to support the government, civil society, and communities in The Gambia in the fight against FGM.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaintaining the FGM ban aligns with The Gambia\u2019s international and regional commitments to prevent harmful practices against girls and women,\u201d the statement by the five officials said.<\/p>\n<p>They also commended the tireless efforts of survivors, activists, civil society organizations, and faith-based groups working to stamp out FGM.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUpholding the ban supports these grassroots initiatives, which are pivotal in ending all forms of violence, including harmful practices, against girls and women and delivering a safer and healthier future for girls and women in The Gambia and elsewhere,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p>The fragility of progress towards ending FGM cannot be overstated as assaults on women\u2019s and girls\u2019 rights in countries around the world have put hard-won gains in danger, they stressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn some countries, advancements have stalled or reversed due pushback against girls\u2019 and women\u2019s rights, instability, and conflict, disrupting services and prevention programmes,\u201d they noted.<\/p>\n<p>While legislative bans are \u201ca crucial foundation for interventions\u201d, the UN officials were adamant that they alone cannot end FGM. They said more than 73 per cent of girls and women aged 15 to 49 in The Gambia have already undergone the practice, many before the age of five.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecent months have emphasised the need for continued advocacy to advance gender equality, end violence against girls and women, and secure the gains made to accelerate progress to end FGM,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt also underscores the importance of engaging with communities and grassroots organizations, working with traditional, political, and religious leaders, training health workers, and raising awareness effectively on the harms caused by the practice,\u201d?they said.<\/p>\n<p>They stressed that supporting survivors \u201cremains as urgent as ever\u201d, noting that many suffer from long-term physical and psychological harm that can result from the procedure, and need comprehensive medical and psychological care to heal.??<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a joint statement by Unicef Executive Director, Catherine Russell, UNFPA Executive Director, Natalia Kanem, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reads: \u201cFollowing the vote today by the National Assembly of The Gambia, we commend the country\u2019s decision to uphold the ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), reaffirming its commitments to human rights, gender equality, and protecting the health and well-being of girls and women.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFGM involves cutting or removing some or all of the external female genitalia. Mostly carried out on infants and young girls, it can inflict severe immediate and long-term physical and psychological damage, including infection, later childbearing complications, and post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Women\u2019s (Amendment) Act, 2015 \u2013 a pivotal milestone in advancing gender equality \u2013 is the culmination of years of advocacy, community engagement, and education aimed at eradicating this harmful practice and meeting the Sustainable Development Goal targets (5.3). It is, therefore, crucial that these legal protections remain in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About Gambia Follow Africa-Press<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Senior United Nations and World Health Organisation officials have welcomed the decision by The Gambia to uphold its ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), calling it a critical win for women\u2019s and girls\u2019 rights. Gambian lawmakers voted on Monday to reject a bill that sought to overturn a 2015 law against the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":61673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-61674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UN, Others Welcome Gambia\u2019S Decision to Keep FGM Law - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Senior United Nations and World Health Organisation officials have welcomed the decision by The Gambia to uphold its ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UN, Others Welcome Gambia\u2019S Decision to Keep FGM Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senior United Nations and World Health Organisation officials have welcomed the decision by The Gambia to uphold its ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-19T10:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-19T10:14:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/07\/sm_1721371387.720246.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"UN, Others Welcome Gambia\u2019S Decision to Keep FGM Law\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-19T10:01:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-19T10:14:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/07\/sm_1721371387.720246.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/un-others-welcome-gambias-decision-to-keep-fgm-law\",\"name\":\"UN, Others Welcome Gambia\u2019S Decision to Keep FGM Law - 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