The following is a translated summary of the article, » Guinée-Bissau: des exciseuses déposent leurs couteaux » by Allen Yero Emballo from Radio France International.
On December 20th, 2012, 40 communities from the sector of Pirada in eastern Guinea-Bissau declared their commitment to ending female genital cutting (FGC), with the village ‘cutters’ symbolically giving away their knives. The text of the declaration, agreed upon by all participating communities, was read by Oumou Baldé in Fulani. In it, the communities declared an end to all harmful practices, a commitment to respect human rights principles in their villages and encouraged others in their sector, Guinea-Bissau, Africa and the rest of the world to respect human rights in order to spread peace.
The declaration took place on the same day the United Nations successfully voted on a resolution to ban FGC in all member countries. Molly Melching, Executive Director and founder of Tostan, was present at the Pirada declaration. She applauded the communities for their historic decision to declare a commitment to human rights, and praised them for setting an example that could be followed by other communities across Africa and throughout the world.
Listen to a radio broadcast about the declaration by Allen Yero Emballo on the RFI website.
