Yahoo – AFP,
Danny Kemp, 22 July 2014
British
Prime Minister David Cameron mets campaigners and activists at the
'Girl Summit
2014' at Walworth Academy in south London on July 22, 2014
(AFP Photo/Will
Oliver)
|
London
(AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron called on Tuesday for a worldwide
ban on female genital mutilation and child marriage as he launched the first
UN-backed "Girl Summit" on issues that affect millions around the
globe.
Cameron
announced that parents in Britain would face prosecution for failing to prevent
their daughters from being subjected to FGM, while setting out steps to tackle
both practices in developing nations.
"Our
aim is to outlaw FGM and child marriage everywhere for everyone," Cameron
told the summit in London, to applause from an audience of experts and
campaigners from around the world.
FGM, which
affects tens of millions of women, particularly in the Horn of Africa, ranges
from removal of the clitoris to the mutilation and removal of other female
genitalia. It can leave girls at risk of prolonged bleeding, infection,
infertility and even death.
Cameron
acknowledged that ending FGM and child marriage was no easy task, saying they
ranked alongside the global health threats of polio and tuberculosis in terms
of the commitment needed to tackle them.
But he
argued: "All girls have the right to live free from violence and coercion,
without being forced into marriage or the lifelong physical and psychological
effects of female genital mutilation.
"Abhorrent
practices like these, no matter how deeply rooted in societies, violate the
rights of girls and women across the world, including here in the UK.
"I
want to build a better future for all our girls and I am hosting the Girl
Summit today so that we say with one voice -- let's end these practices once
and for all."
The summit,
which is co-hosted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), will produce
an "international charter" calling for the eradication of FGM and
child marriage within a generation.
The summit
will also launch new programmes to prevent child and forced marriage in 12
developing nations.
Speakers at
the event included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who recovered
from being shot in the head by the Taliban and is now a campaigner for girls'
education.
"We
should have the right to change traditions and we should make the changes. We
ask that there be no more FGM or child marriage," Malala told the summit.
"We
should not be followers of traditions that go against human rights... we are
human beings and we make traditions."
Map of Africa showing
countries where female genital mutilation
is most prevalent, created on
February 19, 2014 (AFP Photo)
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'Accelerate our efforts'
UNICEF
warned in a new report that while the rate of FGM and child marriage has fallen
over the past three decades, population increase in developing nations alone
could reverse this trend if "intensive action" is not introduced.
More than
130 million girls and women have experienced some form of FGM in the 29
countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is most common, it
said.
More than
700 million women worldwide were married as children, UNICEF added.
"The
numbers tell us we must accelerate our efforts," said UNICEF executive
director Anthony Lake.
Indian actress and Plan International Girls'
Rights Ambassador Freida Pinto listens
to speakers at the 'Girl Summit 2014' at
Walworth Academy in south London on
July 22, 2014 (AFP Photo/Oli Scarff)
|
British
lawmakers earlier this month said the prevalence of FGM in the country was a
"national scandal", warning that up to 170,000 women may have had the
procedure and another 65,000 young girls were at risk.
A damning
report from the House of Commons home affairs committee condemned the failure
of the government, police, health and education authorities over many years to
address what it said was an "extreme form of child abuse".
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