With between 100 and 140 million women living mainly in 28 African
countries and migrant women in various developed countries
subjected to genital mutilation, the question on what needs to be
done to end the practice will be addressed on 6 February at a round
table in Geneva to mark the International Day on Zero Tolerance to
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), IOM,
the Département des institutions de l'Etat de Genève
and the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting
the Health of Women and Children (IAC), the round table at the
IPU's office in Geneva will bring together a range of actors
working on the issue. These include representatives from the World
Health Organization, the Office of the UN's High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as well
as academics and organizations from Africa. IOM will be represented
by its Deputy Director General Ndioro Ndiaye.

In Switzerland itself, there are an estimated 6,000-7,000 women
who have already been victim to FGM or are at risk of being so.
Seventy per cent of those subjected to FGM living in Switzerland
are resident in mainly French-speaking parts of the country,
particularly Geneva, with Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean women
representing the bulk of those already mutilated. IOM has,
therefore, initiated a programme to raise awareness of the dangers
of following the practice among these migrant communities and to
help improve knowledge of FGM among health professionals in the
Geneva canton.

A 2004 UNICEF study found that a significant part of these
migrant communities continue to believe in the practice of FGM and
that a large number of health professionals in Switzerland had not
only come across cases of FGM in their work but also felt that they
needed more information on an issue which causes major health
problems requiring medical care and monitoring.

IOM, in collaboration with the cantonal authorities in charge of
women's affairs (Service pour la Promotion de l'Egalité
entre Homme et Femme – SPPE), integration, health and youth,
aims to empower women through cultural orientation, literacy
courses and discussion groups on FGM and to inform and strengthen
the capacities of the cantonal health professionals regarding the
care of FGM victims.

Efforts are now largely focused on an information campaign among
the Ethiopian, Eritrean, Somali and Sudanese communities in the
Geneva Canton, targeting both women and men to combat some of the
myths that surround FGM. These include beliefs that FGM is an act
decreed by religion or that girls who don't undergo the practice
are more promiscuous. Information such as the illegality of
performing FGM in Switzerland and on where to go to get help for
those who have been subjected to FGM will also be provided.

For further information, please contact:

Sylvia Lopez-Ekra

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9478

E-mail: "mailto:sekra@iom.int">sekra@iom.int

or

Luisa Ballin

UIP Geneva

Tel: +41 22 919 4116

E-mail: "mailto:cbl@mail.ipu.org">cbl@mail.ipu.org for information on
the round table event.