The Gambia’s parliament voted by a substantial margin on Monday to uphold a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), defeating a Bill by conservative lawmakers and religious leaders.

Thirty four of the 53 MPs voted against the Private Members’ Bill introduced by MP Almameh Gibba from the Alliance for the Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), which was supported by Imam Abdoulie Fatty, a long-time advocate for FGM.

In April, the parliament supported the decision for the Bill to be referred to its business committee for more discussion. Less than 9% of MPs are female in the conservative, majority Muslim country and there was fear that the country’s 2015 ban on FGM was in jeopardy.

The decision was commended by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Read more at: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/global-leaders-praise-gambias-decision-to-uphold-ban-on-female-genital-mutilation/