E/2007/27 E/CN.6/2007/9 Ending female genital mutilation 63. At the 11th meeting, on 7 March, the representative of South Africa, on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the African Group, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Ending female genital mutilation” (E/CN.6/2007/L.3), which read as follows: “The Commission on the Status of Women, “Recalling General Assembly resolutions 56/128 of 19 December 2001, 58/156 of 22 December 2003 and 60/141 of 16 December 2005, and all other relevant resolutions, as well as the agreed conclusions adopted at the fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, “Reaffirming that the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, together with their Optional Protocols, constitute an important contribution to the legal framework for the protection and promotion of the human rights of girls, “Reaffirming also the goals and commitments contained in the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development and their five and ten-year reviews, as well as the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the commitments relevant to the girl child in the 2005 World Summit Outcome, “Recalling the entry into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted in Maputo on 11 July 2003, which marks a significant milestone towards the abandonment and ending of female genital mutilation, “Recalling also general recommendation 14 concerning female circumcision adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at its ninth session, paragraphs 11, 20 and 24 (l) of general recommendation 19 concerning violence against women adopted by the Committee at its eleventh session, paragraphs 15 (d) and 18 of general recommendation 24 concerning article 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on women and health adopted by the Committee at its twentieth session, and taking note of paragraphs 21, 35, and 51 of general recommendation 14 concerning article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its twenty-second session, “Recognizing that female genital mutilation violates the human rights of women and girls, “Noting that the reports of the Secretary-General on violence against children and on violence against women, respectively, single out that girls are at greater risk than boys of early marriage, genital mutilation and may experience various forms of violence throughout their life cycles, 07-28248 41