A/RES/56/128
Conference on Human Rights, 8 the International Conference on Population and
Development, 9 the Fourth World Conference on Women 10 and the twenty-first, 11
twenty-third 12 and twenty-sixth 13 special sessions of the General Assembly,
Recalling also general recommendation 14 concerning female circumcision
adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at
its ninth session, 14 paragraphs 11, 20 and 24 (l) of general recommendation 19
concerning violence against women adopted by the Committee at its eleventh
session, 15 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, 16 and taking note of paragraphs 21, 35 and 51 of general comment
No. 14 (2000) 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, 17
Reaffirming that harmful traditional or customary practices, including female
genital mutilation, constitute a serious threat to the health of women and girls, and
may have fatal consequences,
Expressing concern at the continuing large-scale existence of these practices,
Reaffirming that such harmful traditional or customary practices constitute a
definite form of violence against women and girls and a serious violation of their
human rights,
Emphasizing that the elimination of harmful traditional or customary practices
will contribute to reducing the vulnerability of women and girls to human
immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and
other sexually transmitted infections,
Stressing that the elimination of such practices requires greater efforts and
commitment from Governments, the international community and civil society,
including non-governmental and community-based organizations, and that
fundamental changes in societal attitudes are required,
Noting with appreciation the work done in the context of the Organization of
African Unity to prepare a draft protocol to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights 18 on the rights of women in Africa,
_______________
8
A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5–13 September 1994
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.18), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.
10
Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
11
Resolution S-21/2, annex.
12
Resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.
13
Resolution S-26/2, annex.
14
See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 38 and corrigendum
(A/45/38 and Corr.1), chap. IV, para. 438.
15
Ibid., Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/47/38), chap. I.
16
Ibid., Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/54/38/Rev.1), part one, chap. I, sect. A.
17
Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2001, Supplement No. 2 (E/2001/22), annex IV.
18
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1520, No. 26363.
9
2