What does UNHCR do to combat Female Genital Mutilation?
Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women and the procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths. The practice is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15 years. WHO estimates that 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM and that about three million girls in Africa are at risk for FGM annually. FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. Promoting gender equality and working towards the elimination of violence against women and girls, including Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is an integral part of UNHCR’s protection mandate in its work for refugees and other people of concern. UNHCR staff have an obligation to uphold rights and freed
