A race against trends - Statement by UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta H. Fore and UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem on International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

Publication date: February 6, 2018

Female genital mutilation is many things: A violent act that causes infection, disease, childbirth complications, and even death. A cruel practice that inflicts lasting emotional harm and preys on the most vulnerable, least powerful members of society – girls between infancy and age 15. A violation of human rights that both reflects and perpetuates the low status of girls and women in too many places. A drag on the well-being of communities and economies.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Violence in Tanganyika and South Kivu fuels one of the world’s worst displacement crisis for children – UNICEF

Publication date: January 25, 2018

At least 1.3 million people, including more than 800,000 children, have been displaced by inter-ethnic violence and clashes between the regular army, militia and armed groups in the provinces of Tanganyika and South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNICEF said today. The DRC is now home to one of the largest displacement crises in the world for children.