Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries where female genital mutilation is known or suspected to be practised widely receive UK overseas aid.

Baroness Verma

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the most extreme manifestations of gender inequality. It is a form of violence against women and girls and can result in a lifetime of physical, psychological and emotional suffering. It is a global problem – over 200 million women and girls across at least 30 countries, including the UK, have been cut.

The UK Government remains firmly committed to bringing about an end of FGM. Our Flagship FGM programme supports efforts to end the practise in 17 of the highest burden of these countries. With the support from UK aid over 13,500 communities across these countries have publically declared the abandonment of FGM since 2008.