NEW YORK, MARCH 9 – Italy’s commitment in the fight against all forms of violence and discrimination against women was reiterated today by the Minister for Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella, during a side event co-organized by the Italian delegation on how to end harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early and forced marriages.
“It’s a duty that we want to pursue not only at the national level but also in the framework of our foreign policy and international promotion of human rights”, said Roccella, pointing to Italy’s support, through its development cooperation, of multilateral initiatives aiming at gender equality and the different SDGs and in particular to fight FGM: “The UNFPA and UNICEF joint program on elimination of FGM is an excellent multilateral example on how to promote the achievement of gender equality. We are proud to have been of the long-standing donors in supports of its activities”, she said.
FGM and child marriages are relevant human rights violations that involve thousands of women and girls even in Italy: “I believe it is crucial to encourage them to speak out and to report the offense, offering victims assistance and care. FGM are simply unacceptable, they cause irreparable physical and psychological consequences that undermine girls empowerment and because of this, a sustainable development of the whole society. Furthermore, these harmful practices have negative effects on other human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as the right to education, health and motherhood”.
Italy has been involved, – with a constructive and balanced approach – in the negotiations talks on the biennial Resolutions on the eradication of female genital mutilations within the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly III Committee: “It is important to tackle FGM through initiatives that include multilevel approaches designed also to leverage norms changes, harmful stereotypes and unequal structures of power. Conceiving interventions for single individuals and for their communities. A real transformative approach to the issue stems from involving citizens to build a fair inclusive society free from gender based violence and discrimination.”, Minister Roccella concluded. (@OnuItalia)
