Exclusive: UN secretary general adds voice to the Guardian’s drive to end the practice ahead of launch of Nigeria media campaign

Ban Ki-moon calls on men across the world to campaign to end FGM

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has called on men worldwide to join the fight to end female genital mutilation.

Speaking to the Guardian, which has been running a campaign against the practice for almost two years, he said: “Now is the time for men all over the world to take up the fight to end FGM with real dedication.”



Ban has taken a deep personal interest in FGM, speaking on the subject across Africa, where it is still widely practiced despite bans in Nigeria and the Gambia last year, as it is in some migrant communities in Europe.

“As secretary general of the UN, ending violence against women and girls has been one of my top priorities and I will add my voice and my strength to your very noble campaign,” Ban said.

“The Guardian’s prestigious name can make a difference – it is well known and well respected. For me, this is the way journalism can make a difference. Whatever the UN can do to help the campaign, we will spare no efforts.”



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Pope Francis and the US president, Barack Obama, have recently called for an end to the practice.

In a statement to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on Saturday, Ban gave a stark warning that more action was needed.

“If current trends continue, more girls will be cut every year by 2030 than today, owing to high fertility rates and youthful populations found in most communities where FGM is prevalent,” he said.

“Never before has it been more urgent or more possible to end the practice of FGM, preventing immeasurable human suffering and boosting the power of women and girls to have a positive impact.”

Yahya Jammeh, the president of the Gambia, where more than 70% of girls are cut, took the controversial step of banning FGM in the country in November. Nigeria brought in a ban in May 2015. More girls are mutilated in Nigeria, which has a population of 178 million, than any other country in the world.

Although primarily concentrated in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East, FGM is a global problem. In Britain, an estimated 137,000 women and girls have undergone FGM or are at risk from it. The practice, which was first recorded in the tombs of the pharaoh princesses, can cause infection, problems in childbirth and even death.



On a visit to Ethiopia in August, Obama spoke out against the practice. “There’s no excuse for sexual assault or domestic violence, there’s no reason that young girls should suffer genital mutilation, there’s no place in a civilised society for the early or forced marriage of children. These traditions may go back centuries; they have no place in the 21st century,” he said.



Similarly, Pope Francis voiced his support to end FGM on a trip to Africa in November. “Loyalties to tribes are sometimes stronger than political ties in Africa, leading to violences like FGM,” he said.



Ban spoke to the Guardian days before women and girls are due to march in protest at the closure of the only clinic in London treating under-18s at St George’s hospital.



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Commenting on the Guardian’s drive to end FGM, which launches a media campaign in Nigeria next week, Ban said: “The media is a connector between [the] UN and the public. I am ready to continue working with international media and the Guardian to break the silence.

“I raise my voice and call on others to join me in empowering communities, which themselves are eager for change. We can end FGM within a generation, bringing us closer to a world where the human rights of every woman, child and adolescent are fully respected, their health is protected and they can contribute more to our common future.”

The Guardian’s Nigeria media campaign will launch in Abuja on Tuesday alongside the country’s first national conference on FGM. It will work with more than 100 media activists across the country using local media, social media, town criers and TV to spread the news of the 2015 FGM ban.

Nigeria is the fifth country that the Guardian Global Media campaign will be working in; the others include the US, the UK, Kenya and the Gambia.