Female Circumcision Declining World Start

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com-The number of girls at risk of life-threatening practice of circumcision has been declining. As per General Assembly resolution was passed unanimously in December 2012, encouraged member states to intensify efforts to eliminate the practice of female circumcision as a whole.

Nuraini, Communication Specialist UNICEF Indonesia, Friday (08/02/2013), said the decline in the number of female circumcision is based on new data from the United Nations (UN), which was launched on February 6 in the framework of the International Day Without Tolerance to Female Circumcision.

In 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East, where the practice of female circumcision centers, an average of 36 per cent of girls aged 15-19 had been circumcised, compared with approximately 53 percent of women aged 45-49 years.
The sharp decline is especially the case in countries such as Kenya, for example, women aged 45-49 years have been circumcised likely three times higher than girls aged 15-19 years. "This progress shows that ending female circumcision is something that is possible," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
Recent estimates from UNICEF data shows, at least 120 million girls and women have undergone female circumcision in 29 countries. Based on current trends, 30 million girls under 15 years old still have the risk of female circumcision.
Joint Program between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF on Female Circumcision is now making progress in preventing children and future generations of women experiencing female circumcision. Since 2008, when the Joint Programme between the Population Fund of the United Nations (UNFPA) and UNICEF made, nearly 10,000 communities in 15 states representing about eight million people, has left the practice of female circumcision.
Last year, some 1775 communities across Africa to publicly declare their commitment to end female circumcision. Even in countries where the practice of female circumcision is relatively common, the practice behavior began to change.
In Egypt, for example, where 90 percent of girls and women have undergone circumcision, the percentage of women aged 15-49 who are married, and found that female circumcision should be stopped, doubled from 13 percent to 28 percent between 1995 until 2008.
"Women and girls are terberdaya is the key to break the cycle of discrimination and violence and to promote and protect human rights, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights," said Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director.
According Osostimehin, working with government and civil society, UNFPA and UNICEF has successfully implemented a rights-based approach and culturally sensitive to end female circumcision.
Executive Director of UNFPA and UNICEF noted that, if the political will expressed in General Assembly resolution translated into concrete investments, female circumcision is a serious violation of the rights of girls and women may be the remnants of the past. They echoed the call in the resolution for a coordinated approach to promoting positive social change at the community, national, regional, and global.
A comprehensive compilation and analysis of data nationally representative about female circumcision will be published by UNICEF in mid-2013. The data will provide a global assessment of the levels and trends, and statistics on the national and regional levels.
Sources: http://health.kompas.com/read/2013/02/08/15583168/