NEW YORK, United Nations – The Government of Luxembourg has renewed its support to the UNFPA–UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, contributing EUR 4 million to strengthen community-led action, expand survivor-centered services, and accelerate progress towards ending female genital mutilation across 18 countries in Africa, the Arab States and Asia.
Globally, an estimated 230 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, and nearly 4.4 million girls are at risk each year, many under the age of 15. The urgency to protect girls, support survivors, and transform harmful social and gender norms has never been greater.
Despite growing pressures from economic hardship, conflict, and displacement, the Joint Programme continues to sustain progress. In 2024 alone, approximately 1.75 million girls and young women were empowered through life-skills education, comprehensive sexuality education, and girls’ clubs that foster critical life skills and promote the abandonment of female genital mutilation. Additionally, around 1.4 million women and girls engaged in conversations and advocacy to abandon female genital mutilation. More than 3.4 million people made public declarations to reject the practice, and about 1.45 million girls and women accessed services to prevent the practice and to protect survivors.
Through mass media campaigns, the Programme reached nearly 81 million people, fostering awareness and driving social change across communities.
UNFPA’s Executive Director, Diene Keita, and Luxembourg’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Olivier Maes, signed a new multi-year agreement, in New York on 2 December. The agreement confirms Luxembourg’s long-standing support to the Joint Programme, extending through the programme’s current implementation phase, due to conclude in 2030.
This renewed contribution from Luxembourg comes at a decisive moment. Predictable funding is essential to maintain momentum and deepen community leadership — especially among young people, religious networks and survivors who are driving change from within.
“Luxembourg is proud to provide its support for the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme to eliminate female genital mutilation. This commitment reflects our enduring partnership and shared determination to uphold the rights, dignity and health of women and girls. At a time when progress cannot be taken for granted, we firmly believe that sustained, collective and principled multilateral action is essential to ensure that every girl, everywhere, can live free from FGM,” said Thomas Barbancey, director of multilateral development cooperation at Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Transformation from the ground up
In the Hagaz sub-zone of Eritrea, change has a very human face in Mama Meriam Mohammed Omar Ali. She was once one of the region’s most well-known practitioners of female genital mutilation. For decades, she believed it was her duty, a tradition passed down through generations. She even practiced on her own daughters.
Mama Meriam’s transformation began when she attended a community meeting organized by the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW), supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme. There, she learned about the lifelong consequences of female genital mutilation — infections, infertility, trauma and even death. “I thought I was doing what was right. But I was wrong. Now I tell everyone — FGM destroys lives. It destroyed part of mine too,” she said.
Mama Meriam vowed never to perform female genital mutilation again. She has since dedicated herself to advocating against the practice. Today, Hagaz is officially free of female genital mutilation, and Mama Meriam works tirelessly to ensure that the harmful tradition does not return. “I can’t change what I did, but I can stop it from happening again. That is how I make peace with myself,” she said.
Sustained commitment is essential
To achieve global targets to eliminate female genital mutilation by 2030, an estimated $2.75 billion is still required worldwide. The UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme itself faces a funding gap of $12 million to fully implement planned interventions in 2025.
The Government of Luxembourg’s renewed support is therefore both timely and deeply valued. It strengthens ongoing collaboration with governments, civil society, youth networks, and religious and traditional leaders — reaffirming a shared commitment to ensuring that every girl can grow up healthy, safe, and empowered to make her own choices.
