An estimated 4.5 million girls worldwide are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) this year, the United Nations warned Friday.
Female Genital Mutilation Risks Remain High
Many of the girls at risk are under the age of five, according to a joint statement from the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), issued on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
FGM involves the total or partial removal of the external female genitalia and is practiced in some parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, often based on religious or traditional grounds. The practice can lead to severe, life-long consequences, particularly when performed on young girls before puberty, based on unfounded claims that it ensures virginity.
Around 230 million women and girls globally are survivors of FGM, the UN says.
“Female genital mutilation is a violation of human rights and cannot be justified on any grounds,” the heads of the UN agencies stated. “It compromises girls’ and women’s physical and mental health and can lead to serious, lifelong complications.”
Progress and Challenges in Ending FGM
The leaders of the WHO, UNICEF and other UN agencies condemned the practice and reaffirmed their commitment to end FGM “for every girl and every woman at risk.”
Efforts to increase awareness, education and community engagement in recent decades have had a positive impact. After decades of slow change, progress against FGM is accelerating, with half of all gains since 1990 achieved in the past decade. This has reduced the number of girls subjected to FGM from one in two to one in three, according to WHO and UNICEF leaders.
The agencies also called for continued support for survivors, ensuring they have access to comprehensive, context-tailored health care, psychosocial support, and legal assistance.
However, severe cuts to international aid funding, as well as growing systematic pushback on efforts to end FGM, are hindering progress and support for survivors. Without adequate and predictable financing, community outreach programs risk being scaled back, frontline services weakened, and progress reversed, potentially placing millions more girls at risk as the world works toward the Sustainable Development Goal of ending female genital mutilation by 2030.
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