40. Welcomes the commitment of ten United Nations agencies, in their joint statement of 27 February 2008, to continue working towards the elimination of female genital mutilation, by, inter alia, providing technical and financial assistance, and stresses that a common coordinated approach that promotes positive social change at the community, national and international levels could lead to female genital mutilation being abandoned within a generation, with some of the main achievements being obtained by 2015, in line with the Millennium Development Goals;