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STATEMENT BY THE UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR LABOR AND SOCIAL POLICIES, THE HONORABLE TERESA BELLANOVA, AT THE 58TH COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN HIGH-LEVEL SIDE EVENT “EMPOWERING YOUTH FOR THE ELIMINATION OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION:THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY” (March 11, 2014)

Dear friends,

 


Excellencies,


 


Distinguished delegates,


 


Ladies and Gentlemen,


 


My feeling in meeting you all today goes beyond these immediate circumstances. What I wish to convey from the depths of my heart is the sincere joy and pride I feel over the threshold we have reached in the fight against the practice of female genital mutilations. This victory belongs to those who, with great determination, imposed their will in affirmation of the rights of women and girls.


 


This long and winding path goes back almost two decades: it began with a courageous group of Senegalese women sixteen years ago who lifted their voices forcefully among their people, proclaiming the will to abandon this practice, out of respect for themselves but above all for their daughters, their sisters, their granddaughters.


 


It was only a question of time until more sisters, more voices, joined in from every part of the world to say “enough,” enough of this “irreparable and irreversible abuse.”


 


We know that female genital mutilation is often interpreted as a social convention and a traditional practice that is interiorized by women, by men, and by communities in countries where the practice is widespread as a natural “stage” in the development of persons of the female sex, an event that defines gender identity and conforms the girl and future woman to the role and behaviors that are assigned to women.


 


A stage that had so far been considered inevitable, otherwise a girl risked being marginalized by her own community, which instead had woven its own fabric of relations and ties around this practice.



The adoption of the resolution, “Intensifying global efforts for the elimination of female genital mutilations,” by the United Nations General Assembly marked a turning point that instills in us a renewed responsibility, but also a sincere reason for pride and satisfaction.


 


The UN’s firm condemnation of FGMs marks the success of a broad and intense effort whose significance extends beyond its objective, in the never-ending struggle to affirm human rights, an objective that was achieved thanks to the perseverance of a promoting Group of African Countries but also the support of non-governmental organizations and States, like Italy, that believed resolutely in this battle.


 


And without a doubt, I can proudly affirm that the achievement of this significant result was made possible also by the active contribution of Italy.


 


The relations we have built with the African Group allowed us to support politically and diplomatically the European Union’s action at the UN.


 


I also wish to recall in this forum the important role played by UNICEF and UNFPA in strengthening the political commitments and national and international partnerships to foster the elimination of this practice.


 


Since 2008 – the birthdate of the joint UNFPA-UNICEF programme on female genital mutilations – approximately 10 thousand communities in fifteen States, the equivalent of almost eight million persons, have ended this terrible practice. This was made possible thanks to the application of the so-called “social norm approach,” which interprets female genital mutilations not only as a practice that is harmful to the human rights and health of women, but also as the result of social and cultural conditioning.


 


An exceptional result that is the fruit of exceptional work that should not be interrupted but rather stepped up, especially through a system of adequate financing also for future years.


 


At the national level, Italy has done much and is continuing in this direction. As I am sure you are aware, our national law, Law 7 of 9 January 2006, “Measures concerning the prevention and prohibition of practices of female genital mutilation,” laid the foundation for the first legislative impact. It is noteworthy that this legislative initiative, which became an urgent matter in Italy because of the many immigrant communities that engage in this practice, was expressly included among the best practices in this sector identified by the UN Secretary-General in his recent report, “Ending Female Genital Mutilation” (2011).


 


In this context, I also wish to recall the adoption of the recent 2013 law on “feminicide” (Decree Law 93/2013, converted to Law 119 of 15 October 2013), which introduced free services for the victims of female genital mutilations, in line with the measures of the European Council’s Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.


 


But we are well aware that legislative tools are just a starting point for the defense of rights, and are insufficient in and of themselves to affirm those rights.


 


And it is in fact along these lines that last year the Italian Government decided to allocate to the regions significant resources – approximately three million euros – to support projects aimed at enacting innovative and experimental projects, following the social approach, to implement a national strategy to foster the social integration of women and girls who are victims or potential victims of such practices.


 


The beneficiaries of this national initiative are local administrations, civil society, and above all the foreign communities, aware of the fact that, since this practice is truly disappearing, we need to act by facilitating the integration of women and girls in a way that fosters the will to abandon FGM along a broad ethical-cultural horizon of women’s rights, equal opportunities, freedom of choice, and participation.


 


We are here today to take a further step along the path toward the affirmation of women’s rights: to direct our efforts toward rendering the Resolution truly effective, because as we know, it is not a legally binding instrument. In this perspective, allow me to recall the international conference, “Intensifying Global Efforts for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilations,” organized in Rome by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with UNFPA and UNICEF in October, for an effective adoption of the measures contained in resolution 67/146 of UNGA. The event was opened by a High- Level Day which saw the participation of over thirty representatives of Government and Parliament, civil society, human rights advocates, intergovernmental regional institutions and UN Agencies. With the Conference’s outcome document “Moving Forward,” included in the documents adopted by the 68th Session of the General Assembly (A/68/640), the participants identified actions to be undertaken in countries, regions, and internationally, with the dove-tailed purpose of accelerating the abandonment of the practice of FGM and affirming the right of women and girls to be free from discrimination.


 


The scourge of FGM is a phenomenon toward which we should never lower our guard. This spread of these practices, as we know from our actions in the field, represents one of the silent but growing “contradictions” of integration: because these practices continue to carry a strong symbolic value, a sort of “stigma” of cultural identity to be defended and passed on.


 


It is my firm conviction that future generations will be less and less affected by this form of violence, if we know how to build a world in which women can truly exercise their rights on a gender-equal footing, where they may enjoy equal opportunities in access to education, employment and decision-making roles.


 


We should now turn this conviction into reality through national and international policies capable of completely eliminating the practice of FGM. This will be the new challenge to face, marking a further objective in the affirmation and the respect of human rights.


 



Thank you.