The existence of ablation in the countries that are members of the Arab

League and if it is socially accepted in those countries

I. Committee Background

The League of Arab States, or Arab League, was founded in Cairo on 22

March 1945 to enhance coordination, increment in the constitution of education,

provide effective financial assistance, impulse law trade, guarantee security, and

apply foreign policy (Arab Organization, 2020).

According to its charter, its purpose is to promote relations in topics of

economic, cultural, social, and health affairs, communications, nationality, passports,

visas, execution of judgments, and extradition of criminals. By uniting member states

and keeping dialogue, the Arab League manages conflicts and issues in the common

region peacefully.

II. Topic background and description

In December 2012 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution

to ban Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) worldwide (A/RES/67/ 146). Its adoption by

the international community reflected a universal agreement that FGM constitutes a

violation of human rights which all countries should address through “all necessary

measures, including enacting and enforcing legislation to prohibit FGM and to protect

women and girls.” Since the Resolution was adopted, eliminating this practice has

become a target as part of UN Sustainable Development Goal 5, which aims to

achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (United Nations, 2016).

Female Genital Mutilation affects over 200 million girls and women globally

with an estimated 30–70 million girls under the age of 15 at risk of FGM over the

next decade (Shell-Duncan et al., 2016; UNICEF, 2016). The practice is highly
concentrated in thirty countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia

(UNICEF, 2016).

The Arab League contains countries with some of the highest FGM adult

prevalence rates in the world. It contains six countries with prevalence rates of FGM

in females aged 15–49 of over 60%, which are classed by UNFPA as High Prevalence

Countries (see Table 1). These are Somalia (98%), Djibouti (93%), Egypt (87%),

Sudan (87%), Eritrea (83%) and Ethiopia (74%) (UNICEF, 2016).

An important legal instrument developed within a regional framework is the

Arab Charter of Human Rights, approved by the Arab Commission for Human Rights

of the League of Arab States in 1994 and revised in 2000. This document, in its article

39, refers to the right to health and indicates that the States party adopting the

measures that are necessary to combat the practices traditional that control the health

of the person (United Nations Human Rights, 2021). In this sense, it is evident that

female genital mutilation harms a woman's health as it causes serious problems that

affect both their mental health and their physical health and have severe consequences

in the field of female sexuality concerning the reproductive capacity of women.

The Fourth Annual Report on Human Development in the Arab World of the

Program of United Nations for Development (UNDP), December 2016, corroborates

the vision referred. Among other issues, the inequality suffered by Arab women is

denounced, especially in the most intimate sphere, in the family and conjugal sphere

(UNDP, 2016). The fight against genital mutilation of women and girls is ultimately

part of the own struggle for the recognition of the equality of women; equality relative

to their rights and their dignity as a person.

III. Committee focus
The committee focuses on the rights of the women to avoid ablation even though they
know the laws of the country they live in. You will need to come up with well-formed
solutions in order to solve this problem. You also need to know how other countries
that are members of the Arab League think about ablation and the causes of their
thoughts.

IV. Relevant questions and articles

● What is the position of my country about FGM?

● Are there laws that prohibited or promote ablation in my country?

● UNICEF (2005). Changing a Harmful Social Convention: Female Genital

Mutilation/Cutting. Retrieved from:

https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/402-changing-a-harmful-social-

convention-female-genital-mutilation-cutting-arabic-version.html

● UNICEF (2020). Genital Mutilation in the Middle East and North Africa.

Retrieved from https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/FGM-

Middle-East-North-Africa-brochure_2020.pdf

● UNICEF. (2016). United Nations Children’s Fund, Female Genital

Mutilation/Cutting: A global concern. New York, United States.

 V. References

Arab Organization. (2020). League of Arab States. Retrieved from

https://arab.org/directory/league-of-arab-states/

United Nations Development Program(2016). Arab Human Development Report.

Retrieved from

https://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbas/report/AHDR%20Reports/AHDR%202016/

AHDR%20Final%202016/AHDR2016En.pdf

United Nations. (2016). Sustainable Development Goal 5, Achieve gender equality

and empower all women and girls. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg5

UNICEF. (2016). Female genital mutilation/cutting: A global concern. UNICEF.

United Nations Human Rights (2021). Arab Charter on Human Rights. Retrieved from

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/RuleOfLaw/CompilationDemocracy/Pages/

ArabCharter.aspx