Traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls

Emphasizes the need for technical and financial assistance to developing countries working to achieve the elimination of traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls from UN funds and programmes, international and regional financial institutions and bilateral and multilateral donors; calls upon all States: (a) to ratify or accede to, if they have not yet done so, the relevant human rights treaties and to implement their international commitments in this field; (b) to collect and disseminate basic data about the occurrence of traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls, including female genital mutilation; (c) to establish or strengthen support services to respond to the needs of victims; (d) to intensify efforts to raise awareness of and to mobilize international and national public opinion; (e) to continue to take specific measures to increase the capacity of communities, including immigrant and refugee communities, in which female genital mutilation is practised, to engage in activities aimed at preventing and eliminating such practices; (f) to explore, through consultations with communities and religious and cultural groups and their leaders, alternatives to harmful traditional or customary practices, in particular where those practices form part of a ritual ceremony or rite of passage; (g) to cooperate closely with the Special Rapporteur and with relevant specialized agencies and UN funds and programmes, as well as with relevant non-governmental and community organizations; requests the Secretary-General: (a) to make his report available to relevant meetings within the UN system; (b) to report to the General Assembly at 56th session on the implementation of the present resolution.

Adopted without vote, 83rd meeting

6 p.

Adopted at the 83rd plenary meeting, 17 Dec. 1999.