AWEPA Guidelines for Parliamentarians – Abandoning Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (2012)
The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) developed these guidelines with the intention of enhancing the capacity of African and European parliamentarians to exercise their representative and legislative functions against the practice of FGM.
The guidelines include: an introduction to FGM; an explanation of the issue of FGM as a violation of women’s rights; a description of the holistic approach to tackle FGM, with measures towards prosecution but also prevention and protection, and the development of policy measures and the participation of communities; and a chapter on the specific measures parliamentarians can promote to combat FGM. These measures include legislation, allocation of resources, dialogue with civil society and international and regional collaboration.
The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) is an international parliamentary association which works in partnership with African parliaments to strengthen parliamentary democracy in Africa and to keep Africa high on the political agenda in Europe.
