We, the members of the Caucus of Women Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentarian Union of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (UIP-IGAD), gathered on 7-9 January 2012 in Djibouti for the 5th Session of the UIP-IGAD Executive Committee, and focused on two main topics, namely women’s participation in politics and migration within Africa,
 

- Take this opportunity to applaud African Heads of State and Government for their historic adoption on 1 July 2011, during the Summit of the African Union in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, of the Decision to support a Resolution of the 66th ordinary session of the General Assembly of the United Nations for a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation, one of the most systematic forms of violence against women and girls in Africa and throughout the world;

-  Join our voices to those of our Governments calling for the successful completion of the UN process to ban female genital mutilation worldwide, and at the same time request that our respective States and the Member States of the African Union and of the United Nations, as well as our Parliamentarian colleagues and members of the Civil Society Organization, take all steps necessary to promote the adoption of the Resolution;

- Support the political positions taken by our respective Governments so as to facilitate and galvanize advocacy aimed at the adoption and the implementation of the UNGA Resolution, in order to achieve the total and enduring elimination of female genital mutilation, which is still pervasive despite ongoing measures undertaken over many years to encourage its abandonment;

- Encourage the continuous political engagement and the multiple efforts undertaken at national, regional and international levels, such as the implementation of long-term and wide-ranging legislative and political measures to combat female genial mutilation;

- Call on our fellow Members of the Parliaments of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, on the occasion of the 5th Session of the Executive Committee of the UIP-IGAD, to capitalize on this United Nations initiative, by employing the Resolution as a reference for the adoption of domestic legislation where currently absent, and for the thorough application of existing legislation where it has already been adopted;

- Urge the African Group at the United Nations to rapidly implement the Decision adopted in Malabo, to assure that a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation becomes a reality that will reinforce political will and engagement at the highest levels, essential to ensure a lasting and concrete result of all efforts to eliminate this violation of the rights of women and girls.