A/HRC/37/78 47. The deployment of the G5 Sahel joint force, which was welcomed by the Security Council in resolution 2359 (2017), has the stated objective of combating terrorism and addressing the challenges posed by transnational crime in the Sahel region. Despite the G5 countries having signed a judicial cooperation agreement within the framework of the fight against terrorism on 9 May 2017 in Niamey, Niger, the personnel of the G5 Sahel joint force was not deployed in Sévaré, Mopti Region, until 9 September 2017. This agreement facilitates direct cooperation with prosecutors in the border areas between the G5 Sahel countries. In this way, the Public Prosecutor of Mopti can easily cooperate with his or her counterparts in Burkina Faso. B. Intercommunal and intracommunal conflicts 48. The Independent Expert remains concerned by the conflicts between and within communities and by the human rights violations, which pose a clear threat to the peace process. Intercommunal conflicts regularly occur between the Fulani, on the one hand, and the Bambaras and the Dogon, on the other, in certain areas of Mopti Region. An extensive intercommunal conflict that took place between the Fulani and the Dogon in June and August 2017 in Koro cercle left at least 55 people dead, including 34 Fulani. Most of these (28 persons) died as a result of an indiscriminate attack by the Dogon hunters (Dozos) in retaliation for the murder of a famous Dozo in the region, which they attributed to “Fulani jihadists” in a letter published after the fact. 49. The Independent Expert was informed that, between September and October 2017, the armed groups that are signatories to the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali organized intercommunal round tables in an effort to put an end to the violence and to find solutions to security and protection issues with a view to facilitating the Agreement’s implementation. C. The situation of women 50. The situation of women and girls in Mali remains worrying, especially for those living in the north and central parts of the country. Indeed, unidentified armed individuals are stepping up attacks against public transport on certain roads linking Gao and Ansongo, Ansongo and Ménaka, Gao and Gossi, as well as those leading to the Niger border. The working group on gender-based violence has called for the denunciation of these attacks on travellers, which, more often than not, result in the systematic rape of the women and girls who are unlucky enough to find themselves aboard these vehicles. MINUSMA has increased its number of weekly patrols in order to address this threat. However, a more regular patrol schedule remains difficult to put in place owing to the risk of mines and other explosive devices. 51. The participation of women in public and political life remains very low, despite the adoption and promulgation at the end of 2015 of Act No. 052, which introduced a gender quota of 30 per cent for elected and appointed offices. However, the Independent Expert was informed that all local and communal electoral lists complied with the 30 per cent quota, which will lead to an increase in the number of women represented in local decisionmaking mechanisms. This new momentum might help to improve the situation of women and girls in the country. 52. The Independent Expert observes that, in Mali, there is no legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation, such as excision and infibulation, procedures which have been performed in the country for generations. However, awareness-raising activities conducted by civil society organizations and United Nations specialized agencies, in partnership with the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, Children and the Family, have led more than 1,088 villages out of the 12,000 villages in Mali to abandon the practice. 53. The Independent Expert had noted that the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, Children and the Family, through the national programme to combat excision, had undertaken to develop a holistic national communication strategy on gender-based violence. The Independent Expert welcomes the drafting of a bill to prohibit gender-based violence 10 GE.18-01553