International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2025

 Williams Okoi Arikpo

Today is International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation and the Theme for this year is  "Stepping up the Pace: Strengthening Alliances and Building Movements to End FGM"

Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights, the health and the integrity of girls and women.

Girls who undergo female genital mutilation face short-term complications such as severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections, and difficulty in passing urine, as well as long-term consequences for their sexual and reproductive health and mental health.

Although primarily concentrated in 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East, female genital mutilation is a universal issue and is also practiced in some countries in Asia and Latin America. Female genital mutilation continues to persist amongst immigrant populations living in Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Over the last three decades, the prevalence of FGM has declined globally. Today, a girl is one-third less likely to undergo FGM than 30 years ago. However, sustaining these achievements in the face of humanitarian crises such as disease outbreaks, climate change, armed conflict and more could cause a rollback of progress toward achieving gender equality and the elimination of FGM by 2030.

More than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. This year, nearly 4.4 million girls will be at risk of this harmful practice. This equates to more than 12,000 cases every day.

To promote the elimination of female genital mutilation, coordinated and systematic efforts are needed, and they must engage whole communities and focus on human rights, gender equality, sexual education and attention to the needs of women and girls who suffer from its consequences.

2025 Theme: Step up the Pace

Strengthening Alliances and Building Movements to End FGM

In 2012, the UN General Assembly designated February 6th as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, with the aim to amplify and direct the efforts on the elimination of this practice.

There is an urgent need for even more targeted, coordinated and sustained and concerted efforts if we are to achieve our common goal of ending female genital mutilation by 2030. Every survivor's voice is a call to action, and every choice they make in reclaiming their lives contributes to the global movement to end this harmful practice.

There are over 230 million girls and women alive today who are survivors of FGM and need access to appropriate care services.

An estimated 27 million additional girls are at risk of undergoing FGM by 2030 unless action is accelerated.

Every year, over 2 million girls are subjected to female genital mutilation before their fifth birthday.

Daughters of FGM survivors are at significant higher risk to undergo FGM compared to daughters of women who have not undergone FGM.

The financial cost of health care for FGM survivors is USD 1.4 billion every year.

Partnerships and alliances are vital to building social movements to end FGM. 

Today, one out of three girls undergo FGM compared to one out of two girls thirty years ago, however, progress needs to be at least 10 times faster to meet the global target of FGM elimination by 2030.

In 2025, more than 4.4 million girls - or about 12,200 each day - are at risk of female genital mutilation around the world.

The estimated health costs for FGM survivors is USD 1.4 billion every year.