International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The government of Uganda has announced plans to criminalise female genital mutilation, it has been reported.

The country's Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has vowed to eliminate the practice, which involves partial or total removal of women's external genital organs.

Anyone who is directly or indirectly involved in the practice – which is common in the country's Kapochorwa, Bukwo, Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts – faces charges, according to the Independent.

Nakadaama Rukia, the minister of state for gender and cultural affairs, said a fund had been set up to form a national alliance to oversee compliance to the law.

He said the government was greatly concerned about female genital mutilation and has set a deadline of 2012 for eliminating it throughout the country.

According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to the practice.

Posted by Paul Robertson