UNFPA and UNICEF jointly call for an increased investment of resources by the Government of Ethiopia and development partners to accelerate implementation of the National Costed Roadmap to End Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and humanitarian crisis. The call was made in connection with the observance of the International Day of Zero Tolerance against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) today under the theme, “Accelerating Investment to End Female Genital Mutilation.”
Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in the last decade in the reduction of FGM prevalence among girls and women aged 15-49 from 74 per cent in 2005 to 65 per cent in 2016. However, Ethiopia is still a home to 25 million circumcised women and girls. This accounts for the largest absolute number in Eastern and Southern Africa and makes up 12.5 per cent of the 200 million women and girls who have undergone FGM globally. The prevalence of FGM among adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 has dropped from 62 per cent in 2005 to 47 per cent in 2016.
The National Costed Roadmap, which aims to end FGM by 2025, has an objective of sparing an estimated 3.6 million girls who are at the risk of undergoing FGM. The Government of Ethiopia is leading in costing and domestic financing the initiative pledging a 10 per cent annual budget increment in funding its National Costed Roadmap for FGM and child marriage. This is critical in decreasing dependence on external funding and assuring sustainability.
