The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), traditional rulers and other stakeholders, have decried the high prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practice in Osun State and called for its eradication.
They made the call at an engagement programme organised by UNICEF, in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Federal Ministry of Information on FGM on Wednesday, in Osogbo.
The stakeholders, including Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs) Non-governmental organisations, religious leaders, students and market women, agreed that the age-long tradition must be stopped.
In her presentations, a UNICEF Consultant for Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States, Mrs Aderonke Olutayo, said FGM was not only harmful, but was also a violation of the dignity and rights of girls and women in the society.
Olutayo, who noted that Osun was the second on the FGM table in the Southwest with 45.9 percent, said a lot still needed to be done to eradicate the old harmful custom in the state.
She said, “in Nigeria’s Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2013, Osun had 77 percent FGM prevalence rate and was the first in the Southwest.
“But in another survey in 2018, Osun moved from 77 percent to 45.9 percent and came second on the Southwest table.
“There is no doubt, the figure is still very high and that is why we are having this engagement stakeholder meeting on how to eradicate FGM in the state”, she said.
Olutayo said that the popular belief that FGM was being done to curb sexual appetites in girls, preparing them for marriage, initiation into womanhood, among other reasons, was false.
According to her, a World Health Organisation (WHO) news release of Feb. 6, 2020 had revealed that $1.4 billion would be needed annually to treat FGM survivors around the globe.
She said traditional rulers were engaged in the meeting because of the influence they could exert on their subjects in the campaign against FGM.
“Traditional rulers are here because when they make a pronouncement, it will be binding on their subjects.
“Religious leaders are also here to help us to de-link FGM from religion injunctions because the harmful practice is not in the Bible or the Quran, “Olutayo said.
Oba Rufus Ogunwole, the Alagba of Aagba town, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers, described FGM as an old tradition that must be stopped.
He said traditional rulers in the state were ready to eliminate FGM in their domains, because many women and girls had died as a result of the practice.
“FGM is a bad practice and we are ready to put an end to it in our domains.
“The use of one blade in the cutting by the practitioners has resulted in the transmission of diseases from one person to another.
“This has resulted in the death of many and that is why we must put a stop to it,” Oba Ogunwole said.
Also speaking, Mrs Phydelia Abbas, Senior Programme Associate, UNICEF Abuja, said FGM was a discriminatory social norm that required intervention and support from the government and stakeholders.
In their contributions, other stakeholders promised to join hands with the government to put an end to the practice. nan.
