Kapchorwa stops female mutilation

Oct 27, 2000

KAPCHORWA district councillors on Thursday resolved to abolish female genital mutilation in the district, reports Rashid Muzungyo.

KAPCHORWA district councillors on Thursday resolved to abolish female genital mutilation in the district, reports Rashid Muzungyo. The councillors, who were attending a UN-funded policy formulation workshop on female genital mutilation resolved that whoever undergoes the practice would be doing it illegally. The workshop at Green Fields Restaurant in Kapchorwa town was organised by the Reproductive Education and Community Health (REACH), a local NGO that has been decampaigning the practice since 1996. The councillors resolved that district Speaker Moses Mwanga convenes an extra-ordinary council meeting to formalise the council resolution. The councillors said the resolution was in line with the Constitution that prohibits laws, cultures, customs or traditions which are against the dignity, welfare or interest of women. Article 24 of the Constitution states that no person shall be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The 18 councillors also quoted Article 33(1) of the Constitution, which states that women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the person, with men. The councillors asked Jane Frances Kuka, the State minister for disaster preparedness, to organise a special consultative meeting between district councillors and President Yoweri Museveni to design a way forward on genital mutilation eradication. They asked Parliament to formulate a national policy to abolish the practice in Uganda. The councillors complained that the Constitution does not openly prohibit the practice yet it (practice) was harmful to women. The councillors, headed by the district council vice-chairman, Mr. Sam Ngirio, said genital mutilation was a total violation of women's human rights. Ends.

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