UN Population Fund has begun a seven-day youth campaign to end female genital mutilation in Kenya by 2022.
The UNFPA Youth Caravan will begin on Monday in Isiolo, then travel to Samburu, Meru and Embu by February 9.
Fifty youths— girls and boys — in the caravan will be engaging young people in the four hotspot counties on how to be the drivers of change in ending FGM.
The world will mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on February 6. The theme is 'Unleashing Youth Power'.
UNFPA says in 2020, t4.1 million girls around the world are at risk of undergoing FGM. It estimates the cost of preventing FGM at US95 per girl today.
More than200 million women and girls worldwide already have undergone the cut.
UNFPA country representative Ademola Olajide said young people aged 15 to 19 in counties where female genital mutilation is prevalent are less supportive of the practice than are adults aged 45 to 49.
“In many countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent, young girls have a dramatically increased chance of growing up without the risk of undergoing this harmful practice compared to their mothers and grandmothers,” he said.
Thirty countries where FGM is prevalent are experiencing high population growth, with at least 30 per cent of girls younger than 15 undergoing the cut.
“Let’s empower them to take control of their futures and unleash the power of youth to spur social change,” she said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
