FORUM: "Stepping Towards 2030: No end to FGM without Sustained Commitments and Actions.'' International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2026. While significant efforts over recent decades have contributed to progress in addressing female genital mutilation, current trends are insufficient to meet global elimination goals without accelerated action. And the gains made are fragile. Funding cuts, declining investment in health, education and child protection, growing pushback against elimination efforts and increasing medicalization of FGM threaten to slow or reverse progress. Without adequate and predictable financing, community-based programmes risk being scaled back, health and other services weakened and millions more girls placed at risk. As the world approaches 2030, the promise to end female genital mutilation stands at a decisive moment. Gains made over the past decade risk being reversed as global funding and support for gender equality, girls and women’s rights, and ending harmful practices continue to decline. Yet, millions of girls still depend on our collective will to act. Amidst all these challenges, one thing is clear: there can be no end to FGM without sustained commitment and investment. sustained action and investment does not only mean financial resources—it encompasses people’s initiatives, skills and knowledge, assets/equipment, systems, entrepreneurship, technological, informational and influential/ reputational resources. To advance the elimination of FGM, sustained engagement from governments, civil society, communities, philanthropic foundations and the international community is essential. Each act of commitment—whether a policy change, a mentoring initiative, a safe space for dialogue, or a shared story of resilience—represents a step forward towards a world free from FGM. Continued and flexible funding is vital to protect past achievements, sustain momentum, and ensure that national and community actors can continue their work with confidence and stability. On this International Day, partners reaffirm their shared commitment to work with grassroots champions, young leaders, survivors, civil society, governments and partners to accelerate progress towards ending FGM. With four years remaining to meet the 2030 target, sustained action and investment are critical to protect girls and ensure that hard-won progress is not lostFor more than a decade, the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme has supported survivors and prioritized investments in survivor-led initiatives. There are now more than 200 million survivors. Share your efforts and stories by tagging #Unite2EndFGM from across social media platforms and affirming the commitments. It is only through concerted efforts that we can make lasting change so that no girl has to live with fear or endure the harmful consequences of FGM. So, let’s Unite to End FGM. Every voice counts! Follow the conversation with the hashtags:#steppingupthepace, #6February, #EndFGM.
EVENTS: On February 6th at 14:00 CET, the WHO will participate in a global advocacy webinar for International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2026 entitled "Stepping Towards 2030: No end to FGM without Sustained Commitments and Actions''. The advocacy event hosted by the UNFPA – UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation. The observance of the day provides an opportunity to highlight progress and raise awareness to end this harmful practice. From community leaders to health workers and family members, everyone has a role to play. With only 5 years to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, our efforts must be faster and bolder. We must step up the pace 27 times to achieve SDG 5.3 on ending FGM. Keeping this urgency in mind. Register to participate!
Key messages
● Female genital mutilation violates the fundamental rights of girls, including the right to health, life, physical and mental integrity and freedom from torture.
● By strengthening alliances among grassroots activists, communities, governments, organizations and the private sector, we can build a powerful social movement that ends harmful norms, which promote the continuation of the practice.
● Every public declaration, every conversation, and every investment brings us closer to a world free from female genital mutilation, ensuring a safer and brighter future for girls.
Call to action
● Increase investment to ensure no girl is at risk of female genital mutilation: Governments, donors, and the private sector must step up financial investments to scale up of effective interventions.
● Strengthen social movements to eliminate female genital mutilation through partnerships: Expand social movements led by girls, women, survivors, youth, boys and men through strategic coalitions that amplify action to eliminate female genital mutilation.
● Centre the voices and stories of survivors: Place survivors at the heart of advocacy, policymaking, and implementation efforts. Their voices are essential to driving change.
● Advocate for accountability: Ensure countries uphold their commitment to international, regional and national human rights through regular reporting of progress in implementation of policies, strategies and interventions that protect girls at risk and provide necessary care including justice for survivors.
● Engage everyone: Ending female genital mutilation requires the collective efforts of girls, women, survivors, men, boys, youth, traditional and religious leaders, communities, governments, private sector and donors as key allies.
PUBLICATION: New study showing health complications due to FGM.
In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the WHO guidelines on the management of health complications from female genital mutilation. That publication’s main purpose was to provide evidence-informed recommendations on managing health complications associated with FGM. The current revised guideline has an expanded scope, providing up-to-date recommendations on FGM prevention as well as clinical management of complications. The process of updating and revising this guideline resulted in eight recommendations relating to training and capacity-building of health workers on FGM prevention and care, including access to capacity-building resources; educational interventions targeting women and girls living with or at risk of FGM as well as men and boys in FGM-affected communities; deinfibulation for women with Type III FGM, including the timing of deinfibulation; mental health interventions for women and girls living with FGM and having symptoms of anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and surgical and non-surgical sexual health interventions. In addition, three best practice statements are presented on the development and enforcement of laws and policies against FGM, the need for professional codes of conduct for health workers and the importance of counselling and informed consent prior to deinfibulation. Considerations on implementing the recommendations are also discussed. Read the full publication!
CALCULATOR: FGM cost calculator.
Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2026; February 6th.
Female genital mutilation violates the universal human rights to life, health and bodily integrity — and causes lasting harm to over 230 million women and girls worldwide.
It is rooted in the same gender bias that restricts girls’ access to education, narrows women’s opportunities for employment, and limits their participation in public life.
The world has committed to ending this dangerous practice by 2030. But in the meantime, 23 million girls remain at risk.
Getting to zero will require sustained political commitment — and sustained investment. Governments, civil society, health workers, and traditional and religious leaders all have a role to play. The United Nations is working on prevention and advocacy, ensuring that survivors have access to care, and empowering women and girls through education, employment, and leadership opportunities.
On this International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, let us renew our promise to protect the rights of women and girls everywhere, and ensure that they can live free from violence and fear.
Together, we can end this injustice once and for all.
António Guterres.
In 2026 alone, an estimated 4.5 million girls—many under the age of five—are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation. Currently, more than 230 million girls and women are living with its consequences.
Today, on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, we reaffirm our commitment to end female genital mutilation for every girl and every woman at risk, and to continue working to ensure those subjected to this harmful practice have access to quality and appropriate services.
Female genital mutilation is a violation of human rights and cannot be justified on any grounds. It compromises girls’ and women’s physical and mental health and can lead to serious, lifelong complications, with treatment costs estimated at about USD 1.4 billion every year.
Interventions aimed at ending female genital mutilation over the last three decades are having an impact, with nearly two-thirds of the population in countries where it is prevalent expressing support for its elimination. After decades of slow change, progress against female genital mutilation is accelerating: half of all gains since 1990 were achieved in the past decade reducing the number of girls subjected to FGM from one in two to one in three. We need to build on this momentum and speed up progress to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending female genital mutilation by 2030.
We know what works. Health education, engaging religious and community leaders, parents and health workers and the use of traditional and social media are effective strategies to end the practice. We must invest in community-led movements—including grassroots and youth networks—and strengthen education through both formal and community-based approaches. We need to amplify prevention messages by involving trusted opinion leaders, including health workers. And we must support survivors by ensuring they have access to comprehensive, context-tailored health care, psychosocial support, and legal assistance.
Every dollar invested in ending female genital mutilation yields a tenfold return. An investment of USD 2.8 billion can prevent 20 million cases and generate USD 28 billion in investment returns.
As we approach 2030, gains achieved over decades are at risk as global investment and support wane. Funding cuts and declining international investment in health, education, and child protection programmes are already constraining efforts to prevent female genital mutilation and support survivors. Further, the growing systematic pushback on efforts to end female genital mutilation, including dangerous arguments that it should be carried out by doctors or health workers to reduce harm, adds more hurdles to elimination efforts. Without adequate and predictable financing, community outreach programmes risk being scaled back, frontline services weakened, and progress reversed—placing millions more girls at risk at a critical moment in the push to meet the 2030 target.
Today we reaffirm our commitment and efforts with local and global public and private partners, including survivors, to end female genital mutilation once and for all.
Joint statement by the UNFPA Executive Director, UNICEF Executive Director, OHCHR High Commissioner, UN Women Executive Director, WHO Director-General, and UNESCO Director-General on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
