Government moves to outlaw FGM

Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region has taken a first step towards banning female genital mutilation (FGM) in a country where almost all females are forced to undergo the globally condemned practice. Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni and his Cabinet has approved a Bill that would criminalise the ancient ritual, a measure anti-FGM campaigners said would boost their efforts to end the practice. ‘It will be forbidden to circumcise girls. Girls in Puntland must be left the way they are born. Anyone who performs circumcision in the region will face the full force of the law,’ Puntland Justice Minister Awil Sheikh Hamud told reporters. A report on the News24 site notes that the Bill includes stiff penalties for those who perform FGM, including hospitals, midwives and traditional circumcisers. No date has yet been set for it to be presented before Parliament for a vote.