Quote:
The United Nations Secretary General ...
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The 1993 Declaration on Violence against Women included female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women within the definition of violence against women. The Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 called on governments to prohibit female genital mutilation wherever it occurs and to support efforts by non-governmental and community organizations and religious institutions to eliminate it ...
... The practice is particularly common in Africa, where some form of female genital mutilation occurs in at least 28 countries and where as many as
<H3>114 million women</H3>
are affected. At a ground-breaking seminar held in Dakar in 1984, participants from 20 African countries, as well as representatives of international organizations, demanded that the practice be abolished and called for education programmes that would change attitudes and practice. ...
... It is my sincere hope that we are moving towards the day when a practice which has affected the health and development of so many girls and women throughout the ages will be but a memory. As an African and as Secretary- General of the United Nations, I will do my utmost to ensure that this issue retains its rightful place on the international agenda and that it will receive the serious attention that it deserves from the United Nations system.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
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This is the URL to the full press realease ...
You need to edit/copy edit/paste it so there is no referrering URL from GFY. This was requested of me when posting about such matters.
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My opinion is IMPOTENT in many matters & very IMPORTANT in others.
After 20 years they have still not been able to stop FGM.
IMPOTENT
Peace keeping - VERY IMPORTANT.