Cairo Declaration on FGM

"ENDING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION, A GOAL WE CAN ACHIEVE": NCCM AND NPWJ RELAUNCH THE CAMPAIGN TO FOSTER TRANSNATIONAL POLITICAL MOBILISATION WITH A HIGH-LEVEL REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN CAIRO.

 The Egyptian National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and the International non-profit organisation No Peace Without Justice are re-launching the international campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM) by convening a High-Level Regional Conference "For the elimination of female genital mutilation - the Cairo Declaration + 5", to be held in Cairo (at the Intercontinental Hotel CityStars Cairo) on 14-15 December 2008, with the support of the Italian Cooperation, the World Bank and the involvement of UN agencies involved in the fight against FGM.

The Conference, which will be opened by Egyptian First Lady H.E. Suzanne Mubarak, will bring together key international figures, First Ladies from the region, ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of UN agencies and civil society activists from 18 African countries affected by the practice who have played a key role in the battle for the eradication of FGM in recent years.

The purpose of the meeting is to facilitate greater and more cohesive political mobilisation to consolidate the commitments and most successful initiatives undertaken at the national and regional levels and transform them into a stable, coherent political strategy, shared by African and international partners, with the ultimate goal of the complete eradication of the practice of FGM in the near future.

There has been encouraging progress towards this goal in recent years, with the adoption of specific legislation by many countries in which FGM is carried out and wide-ranging information and public awareness campaigns to put an end to the practice. In Egypt, for example, the awareness campaign conducted by the NCCM bore fruit on 10 June 2008, when the Egyptian Parliament adopted a law that punishes FGM as a criminal act. In addition, with the Protocol on the Rights of Women, adopted in Maputo by Member States of the African Union in 2003 and which entered into force on 25 November 2005, African States have adopted a binding instrument that covers a broad range of womens’ rights, and explicitly condemns FGM as a violation of fundamental human rights in article 5 and urges States Parties to adopt specific legislative measures that prohibit the practice.

Five years after the "Cairo Declaration for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation," adopted during the International Conference on "Legal Tools for the Prevention of FGM", also organised by NPWJ and NCCM in Cairo on 21-23 June 2003, this high-level meeting will provide an opportunity to share knowledge and experience accumulated at regional and national levels, in order to identify and consolidate the best strategies and legislative policies against FGM, increase the number of countries that ratify and implement to the Maputo Protocol and create the foundations of a real and strong international alliance to defeat FGM once and for all.

11:45 - 13:30   Plenary Session - Ending FGM: a Goal We Can Achieve

Chair:               H.E. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady, Egypt
Co-Chair:          Ms Emma Bonino, Vice President of Italian Senate, founder of No                           Peace Without Justice
Moderator:         Moushira Khattab, Secretary General, Egyptian National Council for
                        Childhood and Motherhood

Performance by Rokia Treore, Malian singer; screenings of film on FGM.

Presentation by

Ms Marta Santos Paiz, Director, Innocenti Research Centre, UNICEF

Keynote Addresses:

Hon Mariam Lamizana, President, Inter-African Committee

Hon Maiga Sina Damba, Minister for the Promotion of Women, Children and Family, Mali

Hon Hajaa Alima Mahama, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, Ghana

Hon Jeanne Peuhmond, Minister of Family, Women, and Social Affairs, Côte d'Ivoire

Hon Esther Murugi-Mathenge, Minister of Gender and Children [TBC] /or/ Hon Linah Kilimo, MP, Kenya

Hon Haja Musu Kandeh. Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Sierra Leone [TBC]

Hon Rukia Isanga Nakadam, Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development Uganda [TBC]

Hon Minister Pascaline Tamini, Minister of Social Action and National Solidarity, Burkina Faso [TBC]

Amb. Klaus Ebermann, Head of the EC Delegation in Egypt

Amb. James W. Rawley, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt

Mr Emmanuel E. Mbi, Director, World Bank

13:30 – 15:00         Luncheon [Group Photo] / [Press Interviews]

15:00 – 18:30  Thematic Sessions

Session I:           Thematic Session on FGM Legislation as a tool for behavioural change

Session II:          Thematic Session II - Reaching the FGM Communities: the role of Outreach, Public Information and Media Campaigns

Session III:        Measuring Success: identifying information and indicators useful in understanding trends on FGM

20:00           Dinner & Cultural Event

Monday, 15 December 2008

9:00 - 10:15     Resumed Thematic Sessions

Session I:           Thematic Session on FGM Legislation as a tool for behavioural change

Session II:          Thematic Session II - Reaching the FGM Communities: the role of Outreach, Public Information and Media Campaigns

Session III:        Measuring Success: identifying information and indicators useful in understanding trends on FGM

10:15 - 10:45         coffee break

10:45 - 12:30   Plenary Session

Co-Chairs:         Moushira Khattab, Secretary General, Egyptian National Council for Childhood and Motherhood
Gianfranco Dell’Alba, Secretary General, No Peace Without Justice

Reports from the Thematic Sessions

Rapporteur for the Thematic Session on FGM Legislation as a tool for behavioural change

Rapporteur for the Thematic Session on Reaching the FGM Communities: the role of Outreach, Public Information and Media Campaigns

Rapporteur for the Thematic Session on Measuring Success: identifying information and indicators useful in understanding trends on FGM

Discussion

12:30 - 13:00   Closing Session

13:00 – 15:00         Lunch

13:30           Press Conference

15:30           Transfer to FGM-Free Village

17:00 - 19:00   Village FGM Declaration

Simultaneaous interpretation will be provided in Arabic, French, English and Italian