UN agencies rally to end to female genital mutilation within a generation

From the UN News Center

Ten United Nations agencies have banded together to help eliminate the harmful practice of female genital mutilation within a generation, stressing the need for strong leadership and greater resources to protect the health and lives of millions of women and girls.

An estimated 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the procedure — which involves the partial or total removal of external female genital organs — that some 140 million women, mostly in Asia, the Middle East and in Africa, have already endured.

Read more. Plus, see the full inter-agency statement (pdf) on eliminating female genital mutilation.