Should states be held responsible to eradicate FGM?

An event to mark the International Day of the African Child
Sponsored by
the Legal Vice Presidency and the GFLJD FGM/C Legal Working Group
with the support of the Equality Now and
the National Committee against Harmful Practices of Guinea-Bissau (CNAPN)

Should States be held responsible to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM)? States have the general responsibility to protect citizens against abusive behaviors and violence. FGM is an extreme form of gender-based violence and is at the confluence of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. States can be held responsible and liable for their lack of adequate action in relation to the international or regional obligations they have accepted to protect women and girls in their territory (or outside their territory) against FGM. This BBL explores how states can be held responsible for their lack of national legislation to prevent and prosecute FGM (for instance in the case of Mali who will respond before the ECOWAS Court of Justice for the lack of anti-FGM law) or for not complying fully with the existing legislation (for instance in the case of Guinea-Bissau, where despite important efforts to adopt and apply the anti-FGM law, the state has not budgeted resources for FGM and has not taken the necessary steps for systematically prosecuting cases of FGM).

Welcoming Words

Sandie Okoro
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GROUP GENERAL COUNSEL, WORLD BANK
A British national and the first black woman to hold this role, Sandie is the principal advisor and spokesperson on all legal matters for the world’s leading development finance institution. She also heads the Compliance Vice Presidency that is responsible for developing and overseeing the World Bank data privacy framework based on the World Bank Group Policy on Personal Data Privacy. Read more
Isabella Micali Drossos
SENIOR COUNSEL, LEGAL VICE PRESIDENCY, WORLD BANK
Isabella Micali Drossos is a French and Brazilian lawyer. She joined the Bank in 1999 and has worked since then as an operational lawyer in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Region. She has a passion for issues related to gender-based violence (in particular Female Genital Mutilation and Domestic Violence) and collective happiness and well-being in development. She holds degrees in law and in economics from the University of Paris, an LLM from the London School of Economics and a PhD in international public law from the University Pantheon-Sorbonne.

Panelists

Caroline Lagat
PROGRAMME OFFICER, EQUALITY NOW
Caroline Lagat is a lawyer, a human rights advocate and a Programme Officer at Equality Now, leading its End Harmful Practices Programme in Africa. Through her work, she has experience in advocacy before the African human rights mechanisms and courts. She was part of the team that prepared the case filed against the Government of Mali before the ECOWAS Court of Justice. Previously, she worked for the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, OXFAM GB, and FIDA Kenya.
Fatumata Djau Baldé
PRESIDENT, CNAPN, GUINEA-BISSAU
Fatumata graduated in Accounting and holds a master in Law from the Atlantic International University. She is a human rights’ activist dedicated to the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She is the chairman of the National Committee for the Abandonment of Traditional Practices (CNAPN) in Guinea-Bissau. She is also a member of the executive board of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC). She was the president of the institute of women and children between 2000-2001 and was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communities, Tourism, Social Solidarity, Public Administration and State Modernization.
Paul Komba
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER (BARRISTER), MIDDLE TEMPLE, LONDON, UK
Dr. Paul Komba is currently an international Human Rights lawyer (Barrister) with the Middle Temple, London, UK and a Senior Research Fellow in Law at Northumbria University (UK) where he works on data-driven approaches to gender-based human rights issues including FGM. Dr Komba spent years on the legal institutional support for preventing violence against girls and women. He has since published a book entitled ‘Female Genital Mutilation Around the World: Medical Aspects, Law and Practice’ (Springer 2018). He has also authored a book chapter ‘The State of Data and Statistics in sub-Saharan Africa in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals’, in Anne Thurston (ed), A Matter of Trust: Building Integrity into Data, Statistics and Records in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (The University of Chicago Press, 2020). Dr Komba has also published numerous peer-reviewed articles in practitioner and specialised academic journals. He has since 2010 been member of the FGM International Network, and is also a reviewer of the celebrated World Bank’s Compendium of International and National Legal frameworks on FGM.

Moderator

Edith Ruguru Mwenda
SENIOR COUNSEL, LEGAL VICE PRESIDENCY, WORLD BANK
Edith Ruguru Mwenda is a Senior Counsel at the World Bank, she joined the World Bank in 2001 and has worked as an operational lawyer in Africa and in the Caribbean. She has been for many years the Gender Advisor for the Legal Department and the Gender Group at the World Bank and has a passion for Gender Based Violence related issues, including GBV and development, codes of conduct to prevent GBV as well as the operationalization of GBV issues in World Bank operations. Edith holds a LMB from the university of Nairobi, a LMM in Banking and finance from the University of London (Queen Mary College) and a LMM in International Environmental Law from the George Washington University. She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.