“Following the vote today by the National Assembly of The Gambia, we commend the country’s decision to uphold the ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), reaffirming its commitments to human rights, gender equality, and protecting the health and well-being of girls and women. 

“FGM involves cutting or removing some or all of the external female genitalia. Mostly carried out on infants and young girls, it can inflict severe immediate and long-term physical and psychological damage, including infection, later childbearing complications, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

“The Women’s (Amendment) Act, 2015 – a pivotal milestone in advancing gender equality – is the culmination of years of advocacy, community engagement, and education aimed at eradicating this harmful practice and meeting the Sustainable Development Goal targets (5.3). It is, therefore, crucial that these legal protections remain in place. 
  
“The decision to maintain the FGM ban aligns with The Gambia’s international and regional commitments to prevent harmful practices against girls and women, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Maputo Protocol protecting African women’s rights.

“In addition to recognizing this critical decision by the national parliament, we commend the tireless efforts of survivors, activists, civil society organizations, and faith-based groups working to end FGM. Upholding the ban supports these grassroots initiatives, which are pivotal in ending all forms of violence, including harmful practices, against girls and women and delivering a safer and healthier future for girls and women in The Gambia and elsewhere.  

“The fragility of progress to end FGM cannot be overstated. Assaults on women’s and girls’ rights in countries around the globe have meant that hard-won gains are in danger of being lost. In some countries, advancements have stalled or reversed due pushback against girls’ and women’s rights, instability, and conflict, disrupting services and prevention programmes. 
 
“That is why legislative bans on FGM, while a crucial foundation for interventions, cannot alone end FGM. Today, more than 73 per cent of girls and women aged 15 to 49 in the country have already undergone this harmful practice, with many subjected to it before their fifth birthday.  
    
“Recent months have emphasized the need for continued advocacy to advance gender equality, end violence against girls and women, and secure the gains made to accelerate progress to end FGM. It also underscores the importance of engaging with communities and grassroots organizations, working with traditional, political, and religious leaders, training health workers, and raising awareness effectively on the harms caused by the practice.  
  
“Supporting survivors of FGM remains as urgent as ever. Many suffer from long-term physical and psychological harm that can result from the procedure, and need comprehensive medical and psychological care to heal from the scars inflicted by this harmful practice. 
  
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to support the government, civil society, and communities in The Gambia in the fight against FGM. Together, we must not rest until we ensure that all girls and women can live free from violence and harmful practices and that their rights, bodily integrity, and dignity are upheld.” 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Twelve years on from independence the people of South Sudan continue to face huge challenges, exacerbated now by the war in neighbouring Sudan, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The UN health agency insisted that the humanitarian, economic, social and political crises that began with brutal civil conflict in 2013 have been worsened by the recent influx of refugees from Sudan following the war between rival militaries there – with over 650,000 new arrivals since April 2023.

Right now, approaching six million people – or 46 per cent of the population – face crisis levels of food insecurity – a number that’s expected to rise to around 7.1 million during the current lean season.

El Niño and flooding

The WHO report also highlighted that the 2023-24 El Niño weather phenomenon – one of the strongest on record – brought dry conditions, erratic rainfall and significantly impacted harvests.

It also resulted in year-round flooding, which occurred in new previously unaffected areas.

Severe flooding, recurrent violence, weak governance, poverty and lack of infrastructure have created a complex humanitarian crisis which is hindering South Sudan’s development, the UN health agency warned.

A staggering 8.9 million people mostly in flood and conflict-affected areas have been affected, with women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities at higher risk.

UNHCR´s first-ever Forced Displacement Survey (FDS)

A pilot household survey by The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Monday, further underscores the dire conditions, revealing alarming levels of suffering among both refugee and host communities.

The Forced Displacement Survey (FDS) was conducted between April and December 2023 and covered around 3,100 households in South Sudan.

It found that all communities face many challenges including limited services, high unemployment, no education, poor infrastructure and overcrowded shelters.

74 per cent of households going hungry

Food is a major issue with 74 per cent of both refugee and host community households experiencing hunger in the past month.

And over 40 per cent of both groups had less income than the previous year. Refugees from the Sudan crisis have added to the already volatile areas and overstretched services. The conflict has also affected South Sudan’s economy by closing the main oil pipeline.

Marie-Helene Verney, UNHCR Representative in South Sudan, said that “we need to link humanitarian assistance to stabilization and development programmes to the extent possible…Substantive long-term investments are crucial to improving the wellbeing of refugees and the communities hosting them.”

South Sudan has over 460,000 refugees from Sudan, DRC and Ethiopia.

With the conflict in Sudan, South Sudan is receiving 1,600 people daily including refugees and returnees. The FDS provides comprehensive socioeconomic data on refugees and host communities to inform programming and policy. This data is key to targeting assistance where it matters most and bridging the humanitarian-development gap.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.

Millions of children in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remain unprotected against preventable diseases due to a steady decline in vaccination coverage, according to the latest WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage (WUENIC) published today.

In 2023, the number of ‘zero-dose’ children in the MENA region – those who did not receive even the first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine (DTP1) – was 1.64 million, up from 1.2 million in 2022, representing the highest ever reported number. This new figure is even more staggering when compared to 2019, when we had 872,000 zero-dose children.

“The increase in the number of zero-dose and under-vaccinated children is alarming. The drop in immunization rates poses a real threat to children from vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Region.

The latest data ranks MENA sixth out of seven UNICEF regions, with DTP1 coverage at 85 per cent in 2023—a drop of seven percentage points since 2019.

“While the underlying causes are varied, conflicts and humanitarian crises are among the main drivers of this decline. Conflict-affected countries are home to the majority of zero-dose children, making humanitarian access and response in such contexts an even higher priority,” added Khodr.

As conflicts continue to impact children around the region, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria are home to nearly 87 per cent of the total zero-dose children in the region, with Sudan alone contributing 42 per cent of these zero-dose children. In the State of Palestine, traditionally a high-coverage country, the impact of the conflict has already started to show while the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip is expected to further deteriorate immunization coverage in 2024 unless urgent lifesaving services are re-established and the violence ends.

The situation is similar for the Measles vaccine. A drop of 4 percentage points has been observed in 2023 compared to 2019, with a total of almost 2 million children in MENA missed their first dose.

Vaccine coverage varies between countries and within countries for different vaccines. While the backslide in vaccine coverage draws a grim picture, there is still good news. Some countries in the MENA region have maintained their progress, while others have advanced. Thirteen out of 20 countries in the region had coverage of at least 90 per cent, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been evident in at least five middle-income countries, putting them on the right trajectory to achieve the targets of the Immunization Agenda 2030.

“To achieve progress and protect children and communities from preventable diseases, we call on governments to continue investing in health systems, sparing no effort to reach every child with all necessary vaccines. Critical and lifesaving services provided by front-line workers, particularly in conflict and crises-affected contexts, should be supported and protected, and safe humanitarian access guaranteed and facilitated,” said Khodr.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UNICEF, Middle East and North Africa.

Reacting to the rejection of a bill to repeal the 2015 Women’s (Amendment) Act which bans female genital mutilation (FGM), by Gambia’s parliament on 15 July, Samira Daoud, Amnesty International Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said:

“We welcome with great relief the rejection of the bill aimed at reversing the ban on FGM in Gambia. In 2015, the adoption of the Women’s (Amendment) Act, which criminalizes and sets out punishments for performing, aiding and abetting the practice of FGM, represented a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to safeguard girls’ and women’s rights. It was essential that this progress was protected.

“However, since being outlawed in 2015, only two cases have been prosecuted and the first conviction for performing FGM was only made in August last year. Moreover, this attempt to repeal the law is a warning sign demonstrating that steps must be taken to make the population more aware of women’s rights and the need to eradicate such harmful practices. Due diligence requires effective prevention, protection and reparation, not just criminalization.

“In addition to banning FGM, the Gambian authorities must do more to enforce the law. We also urge the adoption of a holistic approach that addresses the root causes of the issue to change attitudes and norms in order to empower women and girls.”

Background

Around 76% of girls and women between 15 and 49 years of age have undergone FGM in Gambia, according to UNICEF, and 3 out of 4 girls experience it before age 6.

Gambia is a signatory to international conventions that uphold and protect the rights of women and girls, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child specifically states that Governments must take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social and cultural practices, including FGM.  

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.