DISCORSO PRONUNCIATO DALL’AMBASCIATORE SEBASTIANO CARDI, RAPPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DELL’ITALIA PRESSO LE NAZIONI UNITE, ALL’EVENTO DI CELEBRAZIONE DELLA GIORNATA INTERNAZIONALE DELLA TOLLERANZA ZERO PER LE MUTILAZIONI GENITALI FEMMINILI (6 febbraio 2015) 

Dear Excellencies, dear Colleagues and friends,

I am honored to be here with all of you today to celebrate, for the first time at the United Nations Headquarters, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilations. I am thankful to the Executive Director of UNFPA, H.E. Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, to today’s keynote speaker, the Executive Director of UN Women, H.E. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and to Dr. Susan Diffell of UNICEF. We all know the strong commitment of these Agencies in the battle toward the eradication of FGM and we praise them.

The fight against FGM remains a high priority on Italy’s human rights agenda, as it has been ever since the inception of the campaign. Italy is doing its part, both on a national level – where we have endowed ourselves with preventive and punitive measures specifically intended to criminalize the practice, which has been spotted in some communities in Italy – and on an international level, with many political and cooperation initiatives.

Today’s event is one of a series of dedicated appointments that we have been promoting over the years to keep attention to this issue high on the international agenda. It is part of our longstanding commitment in the campaign, standing firm by the side of African countries and of all the many engaged parties who share the dream of finally overcoming this challenge.

As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out in the statement we have heard earlier, “change is coming from within the communities”. Institutions, local communities, women’s and youth groups, NGOs on the field, can bring all together diverse voices in synergy to ask for further steps forward. They have a resolution of the UN General Assembly behind them now and a strong and wide political commitment of the international community. According to the last resolution medical personnel, along with community and religious leaders and social workers, are called to play a decisive role in preventing FGM. It is also through education that we can change the way people think, and today’s young people are the ones who will decide the fate of millions of girls worldwide tomorrow.

Italy, along the same lines that the Secretary General pointed out, is convinced that the participation of the civil society in national policies and strategies on FGM and in monitoring their implementation is the key to success for preventing FGM.

To this end the Post-2015 Development Agenda is a further historic opportunity we have to commit altogether to ending these harmful practices.

I thank you very much.