Statement
Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee - Civilians in Gaza in extreme peril while the world watches on: Ten requirements to avoid an even worse catastrophe
21 February 2024
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Updates
UK announces £4.25 million (c. $5.3 million) for UNFPA’s humanitarian response in the occupied Palestinian territories to support women and girls
25 Feb 2024
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Five ways to change life for women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Midwife Esther Okunia supports displaced women and girls in the province of Ituri.
All photos © UNFPA DRC/Junior Mayindu
15 February 2024
News
UNFPA urges leaders to address gendered, discriminatory impacts of climate change at COP28
- 29 November 2023
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News
After surviving sexual violence, youth leader creates change for girls with disabilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 13 February 2024
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What is the Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM?
UNFPA, in partnership with UNICEF, leads the largest global programme to accelerate the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM) in 18 countries in Africa and Asia: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Yemen.
The Joint Programme’s interventions are designed and implemented in close collaboration with governments, national and grassroots community organizations, and other key stakeholders. They are evidence-based and draw on technical support from UNFPA and UNICEF.
The Joint Programme, launched in 2008 and now in its fourth phase (2022–2030), focuses on fostering accelerated, collaborative action across all levels (grassroots, communities, subnational, national, regional and global) and all relevant sectors (social, education, health, religious, economic, political). This collaborative and multifaceted approach aims to shift underlying social norms within affected communities through movement building and strengthening of systems in partnership with governments, non governmental organizations and the private sector.
Why Get Involved?
FGM is a violation of human rights and is never safe, with immediate health risks that can span a lifetime, including chronic pain, infections, increased risk of childbirth complications and psychological trauma.
Ending this harmful practice is an achievable Sustainable Development Goal to safeguard and protect the 68 million girls and women at risk. Your involvement can take many forms, from advocacy and policy making to providing financial support or implementing interventions on the ground. By participating in this global movement, you can contribute to ending FGM and creating a world where every girl and woman lives free from violence and discrimination.
Top 10 achievements so far
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girls aged 0 to 14 years were protected from undergoing FGM
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women and girls have initiated conversations on FGM elimination
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people made public declarations to abandon FGM
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communities established surveillance systems to protect girls from undergoing FGM
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individuals were reached by mass media messaging on FGM
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grassroots organizations have been integrated into coalitions and networks working on the elimination of FGM
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community and frontline workers from 241 implementing partners were engaged in interventions that aim to end FGM
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girls and women received FGM related prevention and protection services
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health service delivery points have at least one health worker trained to provide FGM-related services
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arrests were made as part of enforcing FGM legislation
Where we work
Explore snapshots of the 18 focus countries. Each snapshot offers a brief synopsis of the context, including drivers, prevalence, attitudes and progress in eliminating FGM, and a list of key programme partners. The snapshots also highlight key programmatic achievements and an activity showcasing how Phase IV of the programme operates at the field level.
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Accelerating Change - Original Proposal (2009)
UNFPA and UNICEF will work jointly towards actively contributing to the accelerated abandonment of FGM/C, in specific areas of implementation…
Read publication
2008 Annual Report of FGM Joint Programme: Accelerating Change
This is the first annual report of the Joint Programme, whose objective is to contribute to a 40 per cent reduction of the practice among girls aged…
Read publicationPartnerships and funding
Partnerships are at the heart of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme’s strategy to eliminate FGM. The Joint Programme partners comprise a diverse set of multisectoral stakeholders representing governmental institutions, national and international organizations, civil society organizations, grassroots organizations, women's groups, youth-led initiatives, academia and frontliners, all working in tandem to end this practice. These partnerships are at global, regional, national and subnational levels working to create an enabling environment for change, ranging from policy-making to community-level and grassroots interventions, building a world where girls and women are safe, empowered and free to live their lives without the threat of FGM.
The Joint Programme’s funding partners provide the financial support to sustain and scale up initiatives that aim to accelerate and catalyze social-norm change. In the current fourth phase, the Joint Programme is generously funded by the Governments of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union. However, there is a need to mobilize additional financial resources and scale up interventions to be able to realize the global target of eliminating FGM by 2030.
Funds received by the Joint Programme in 2023
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News
Raising the voices of survivors to create a generation free from female genital mutilation in Ethiopia
- 08 February 2024
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"I wanted to be the last woman on earth to have undergone FGM."
Survivors in Kenya say the practice must stop with their daughters
All photos and video © Christina Nwabugo
05 February 2024
News
Breaking the cycle for survivors: UNFPA offers counselling and support to abandon female genital mutilation in Yemen
- 05 February 2024
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News
One year on, Joint Innovation Challenge winners keep up the fight against gender-based violence
- 25 January 2024
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