A/HRC/29/20 • Cameroon’s national action plan, in partnership with civil society such as the Council of Imams and Muslim Dignitaries of Cameroon includes support for the socioeconomic reconversion of practitioners • Egypt, Cameroon, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and the United Republic of Tanzania have developed multisectoral strategic action plans that involve different government institutions and emphasize awareness-raising, while, in 2004, Mauritania adopted a five-year national action plan against gender-based violence and the Government has pledged to adopt in 2015 a law against genderbased violence, including female genital mutilation. C. Education and awareness-raising 19. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Accelerating Change,10 comprehensive formal, non-formal and informal education linked with awareness-raising programmes can contribute greatly to preventing female genital mutilation. 20. Evidence shows that the incidence of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation decreases with gains in female literacy. A survey by UNICEF in Egypt found that 72 per cent of women with no education wanted the practice to continue compared with 44 per cent of women with higher levels of education. Furthermore, 15 per cent of women with no education wanted to abandon the practice, compared with 47 per cent of women with higher education.11 In another survey conducted by the organization Human Rights Watch in Yemen, mothers who had no education or only primary school education were more likely to subject their daughters to the practice, and mothers with more children were more likely to have at least one daughter undergo the practice.12 21. A number of civil society organizations provide scholarships for girls to enable them to remain in school as a means of preventing female genital mutilation. In the United Republic of Tanzania, for instance, the Maasai Women Development Organization has given scholarships to enable girls who otherwise would have been mutilated and forced into marriage to remain in school.13 The Pastoralist Child Foundation is working in Samburu and Maasai Mara, Kenya, to eliminate the practice through educational sponsorships for girls.14 In 2014, the county of Pokot in Kenya committed to spending over $1 million on eliminating female genital mutilation, with much of the funding to be used to provide scholarships for girls.15 22. Information and awareness-raising on the harmful impact of female genital mutilation and its legal prohibition are critical to eliminating the practice. The abovementioned UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme supports community-based educational dialogues in 17 countries. The dialogues are often led by a community health worker and involve sharing information on human rights, health and gender norms. Under the programme, workshops on the harmful impact of the practice were held in Mauritania 10 11 12 13 14 15 8 Available from www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-unicef-joint-programme-female-genitalmutilationcutting-accelerating-change. http://www.unicef.org/egypt/Eng_FGMC.pdf accessed on 17 February 2015. Human Rights Watch submission. See www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2012/11/escaping-the-scourge-of-female-genital-mutilationin-tanzania-a-maasai-girls-school-provides-schol#sthash.ooQgGpB2.dpuf. See www.indiegogo.com/projects/girls-education-community-education-in-samburu-and-maasaimara-kenya. Equality Now submission.