The study, which provides the first reliable evidence that female genital mutilation can adversely affect birth outcomes, was undertaken by African and international researchers in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.
President Abdoulaye Wade has ordered his government to allow free treatment for women suffering from obstetric fistula - often a result of early childbirth that leaves young women incontinent and sometimes shunned by their communities.
On June 7-8, 2006, partners from 6 African countries and the UK met to prepare a plan to fight FGM and early marriage at the international conference on "FGM and Early Marriage from the Religious and Legal Perspectives."
This update urges the government to continue its efforts to end the practice of FGM through education, enforcement of the law and disciplinary action against police officers and court officials who fail to implement the law appropriately.
La mise à jour félicite le gouvernement tanzanien pour leurs efforts à assurer que la police applique la législation contre les MGF, et relève plusieurs cas dans lesquels des filles ont échappé aux MGF grâce à l'intervention des autorités.
In December 2005, West African religious and traditional leaders met with political officials and affirmed their commitment to eradicating female genital mutilation, saying that to abandon the practice is not to reject traditional or religious values.
