Eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Kenya.

• Position: Brief Article

Unless present trends dramatically decline, in the next century some 200 million girls will be subjected to FGM. Instances of its occurrence have been reported from at least 28 countries. While the practice violates the human rights of affected women in a moral and ethical sense, it can also devastate their personal health and well-being.

But addressing this dangerous practice is not easy.

Traditional cultural beliefs and mores largely determine the practice, and the United Nations has sought ways to communicate its dangers through community-based interventions that are consistent with specific local customs, traditions and laws.

Fortunately, there are articulate community groups in countries where the practice has been known to occur. In Kenya, for instance, Mandeleo Ya Wanawake has been particularly active in this cause and, together with another NGO, the United States-based Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health, will work within this project to facilitate involvement of other non-governmental agencies that have experience with FGM or a sound understanding of the cultural, traditional and religious dimensions relevant to concerned communities. The project, funded for $300,000 and being implemented by UNDP, contains a two-prong programme to address FGM issues in Kenya, one of the initial 18 countries with a coordinated UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

UNDAF, a critical component of the United Nations reform programme introduced by the...