Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Sudan regarding (1) female genital mutilation not being a criminal offence in Sudan, and (2) UNICEF’s 2013 estimate, included in their report <i>Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change</i>, that 88 per cent of Sudanese women have undergone female genital mutilation.

We regularly raise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) with the Government of Sudan. We worked hard through the Government’s National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW) to ensure that Sudan was represented at the Girl Summit which took place in London in July, and which had a particular focus on FGM and child and early forced marriage (CEFM). We welcome the Government’s subsequent signature of the Girl Summit Charter, which includes a public commitment to ending FGM. We are now in discussion with the NCCW about an event to mark that signature, which would be attended by the Ministry of Social Welfare. On 22 October the Government will host a regional meeting on ending FGM, in which it will showcase its own achievements in changing attitudes.

Advocacy on the need for legislation on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) forms part of a programme supported by DFID and run by UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). More broadly, the programme aims to end FGM by making it socially unacceptable, and supports the country-wide Saleema campaign which is led by the Government of Sudan.

DFID is also providing funding to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which will include data on the percentage of women who have undergone FGM, and will report by the end of 2014. The findings of that survey will inform our discussions with the Government of Sudan and our future programming.