Parliamentary Hearings
on Female Genital Mutilation
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Transcripts (Word document)
The Launch
On 22nd November the APPG held a reception in the Jubilee Room Palace of Westminster
to launch the Parliamentary Hearings Report on FGM and the FGM Survey Report
and Analysis of Questionnaires.
The key note speakers
were, Kate Adie OBE - BBC Chief News Correspondent and Baroness Amos - International
Development Spokesperson in the House of Lords.
The Art Exhibition by
Nigerian Artists titled: "Female Circumcision in Nigeria. The Suffering.
The Sorrow. The Setback." was displayed at the Launch..
The Hearings
House of Lords - 23/24 May 2000
The audience consisted of Parliamentarians, FGM activists, representatives of
local authorities, national and international civil servants, medical experts,
human rights experts and the press. A steering committee consisted of the Group
staff, the facilitator Flo Harding from the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mrs Shamis
Dirir, Director of London Black Women's Health Action Project and Mrs Naana
Oyotoo Oyortey, Chair of FORWARD.
In preparation of the
Hearings the Group tabled a number of Questions for Written Answer on FGM. Lady
Rendell of Baberg made a contribution on the subject in the Queen's Speech Debate
on 24 November 1999 and additionally introduced a Starred Question in the House
of Lords on 23 March 2000.
350 Questionnaires were
distributed worldwide and close on a third were completed and returned. An academic
analysis has been conducted and will be published shortly.
On the first day the Panel
comprised Christine McCafferty MP (Group Chair), Lord Ahmed, Dr. Peter Brand
MP, Lady Gould, Alice Mahon MP and Lady Rendell of Baberg. The subject was FGM
in the UK with witnesses from Social Services, UNISON, the Midlands Refugee
Council, grassroots training, advocacy and policy NGOs, and health professionals.
The second day the Group
Chair was joined by Lady Gould, Lord Rea and Dr. Jenny Tonge MP when we tackled
the practice of FGM worldwide. On that day witnesses from UNFPA, Senegal including
an Iman, France , Belgium and Wallace Global Fund, Washington made presentations
and were asked questions by our the panel of Parliamentarians.
The Hearings were professionally
recorded and a report with recommendations will be brought out in due course,
which will receive a worldwide distribution to actors and potential actors in
the field.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath,
Government Spokesman for Health, said in the House of Lords on 23 March:
"..the Government
will ensure that the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population,
Development and Reproductive Health hearings on FGM are fed into the development
of our sexual health strategy".
We are very grateful to
the Department for International Development and to Wallace Global Fund for
their financial support which made these important Hearings possible.
Examples
of FGM media coverage