A/HRC/RES/44/16 Recalling the annual commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, on 6 February, with the aim to enhance awareness-raising campaigns and to take concrete action against female genital mutilation, Recognizing that, like all other harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation constitutes a human rights violation and a form of violence against women and girls that is mainly motivated and perpetuated by gender inequality and discriminatory social norms that jeopardize the recognition, enjoyment and exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms while posing a serious threat to their health and well-being, including physical integrity and mental, sexual and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, Recognizing also that the practice of female genital mutilation has no documented health benefits and may, on the contrary, increase the risk of sickness and death, that it causes severe stress and shock, that it may give rise to post-partum and obstetric complications such as fistula or haemorrhage, and that it is likely to increase vulnerability to HIV and hepatitis B and C and to cause other health problems, Recognizing further that all harmful practices, including female genital mutilation, when perpetrated against girl children, have particular detrimental consequences for their health and growth, and recalling in that regard the need to guarantee the right of girl children to be free from all forms of violence, Recognizing that the practice of female genital mutilation continues to have an adverse effect not only on the economic, legal, health and social status of all women and girls but also on the development of society as a whole, while the empowerment of and investment in women and girls, the full enjoyment of their human rights and their full, equal, effective and meaningful participation at all levels of decision-making are key to breaking the cycle of gender inequality, discrimination, gender-based violence and poverty and are critical to, inter alia, sustainable development, Recognizing also that harmful practices such as female genital mutilation are an impediment to the full realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and to the respect for, and protection and fulfilment of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls and the development of their full potential as equal partners with men and boys, as well as to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and convinced that such harmful practices seriously impede the implementation of legislative and normative frameworks that guarantee gender equality and human rights and prohibit genderbased discrimination and violence, Deeply concerned that, despite increased national, regional and international efforts, the harmful practice of female genital mutilation, like many other harmful practices, persists in all parts of the world, that it is exacerbated in humanitarian situations, armed conflicts, pandemics and other crises, and that new forms, such as medicalization and cross-border practice, are emerging, Recognizing that the prevention and elimination of female genital mutilation is a national development, human rights and public health priority, thereby requiring a comprehensive and multisectoral approach based on States’ obligations under international human rights law and underpinned by the principles of, inter alia, accountability, participation, transparency, empowerment, sustainability, equality and non-discrimination, and international cooperation, Considering that holistic strategies to prevent and eliminate female genital mutilation must be mainstreamed and coordinated both vertically and horizontally, and that horizontal coordination requires the joint participation of organizations across sectors, including education, health, justice, social welfare, law enforcement, immigration and asylum, and communications and media, while vertical coordination brings together stakeholders at the national, subnational and local levels, including, inter alia, parliamentarians, national human rights institutions, traditional community leaders and religious authorities, women and girls, parents, legal guardians and families, health-care providers, civil society, human rights groups, youth organizations and men and boys, 2