Some stakeholders in Imo have lauded the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its sustained community interventions to end female genital mutilation.

The stakeholders spoke in Ahiazu and Ezinihitte Mbaise council areas of Imo on Tuesday, as part of activities marking the 2024 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.

The chairman of the Council of Traditional Rulers in Ahiazu Mbaise, Eze Sabinus Nwaneche, thanked UNICEF for its sustained commitment to community dialogue toward ending the menace.

Mr Nwaneche said his people have become properly enlightened about the long-term health and psychological implications of FGM, adding that women and female children have started showing a strong commitment to ending the olden days’ practice.

He said in line with an agreement reached in November 2020 by community stakeholders to end FGM in the area, a surveillance system was introduced to track the birth of every girl-child.

The royal father said the measure was to ensure that the girl-child was not subjected to genital mutilation.

He added, “We have been sensitised about the consequences of FGM, and this has awakened our consciousness and commitment to abolish the practice.”

Also, the chairman of the Council of Traditional Rulers in Ezinihitte Mbaise, Eze Ositadinma Nwokocha, thanked UNICEF and its support partners for efforts to end the suffering of the girl child in the area.

He said representatives of five communities met at the local government area headquarters in Itu in November 2023, where they adopted a policy statement to guide the people’s actions and support the #EndFGM campaign.

According to Nwokocha, the fight against FGM in the area has started and will continue until it is eradicated.

The sole administrator of Ahiazu LGA, Chief Tony Anakani, was also full of praises for UNICEF and pledged readiness to collaborate with the organisation to advocate an end to FGM and other forms of violence against women and girls.

A cleric, Jerry Atuzie, said many persons practised FGM out of ignorance of its social and health implications. He identified some of the implications as marital instability and excessive bleeding, which could result in death.

The Imo coordinator of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Ngozi Ejike, also thanked UNICEF and the Imo Government for supporting the enactment of the Imo Child Rights Law (2014) and the Imo FGM Prohibition Law No. 006 of 2017.

She said the laws created the enabling environment for speedy dispensation of justice against FGM.

Victor Atuchukwu, the UNICEF child protection Specialist in Enugu, said at a recent town hall, in collaboration with support partners, that UNICEF

would continue to campaign against the practice.

(NAN)