Your report (Burkina Faso botched FGM leaves 50 girls in hospital, 18 September) underscores the terrible toll this harmful practice continues to exert around the world. Female genital mutilation inflicts lasting emotional and physical harm on the most vulnerable members of society. It has no medical or religious justification – and no place in the 21st century.

Burkina Faso is actually one of the countries that has made a concerted effort to end FGM, which in some communities is seen as a rite of passage for girls. With 86 arrests and 43 convictions in 2017, and mobile courts to take the legal process to communities, the country is a leader in the enforcement of legislation banning the practice.

While legislation and enforcement provide a solid basis for tackling the problem, additional measures are needed to encourage communities to abandon the practice. The UNFPA and Unicef are jointly supporting grassroots efforts that unite community leaders, schools, parents and local non-governmental organisations to protect girls from harm. In some communities, FGM has been fully eliminated. In others, it has been replaced by new rites of passage that raise girls’ status rather than inflicting lifelong physical and psychological harm.

The UNFPA has set a goal to end practices that harm women and girls by 2030. This is also a target of the UN sustainable development goals, to be achieved the same year. Clearly, there is still a very long way to go: between now and 2030, the UNFPA estimates that 68 million girls around the world – not only in Africa, but also in Asia, Europe and the Americas – may be subjected to female genital mutilation, robbing them of their bodily integrity and violating their human rights. There is no time to waste.

Dr Natalia Kanem

Executive director, UNFPA

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