UN agencies warned Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of global progress in stamping out female genital mutilation. The warning comes just days before the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6.

The World Health Organization has defined female genital mutilation as involving the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice has no health benefits for females and can cause severe bleeding, problems urinating, cysts, infections, and an increased risk of newborn deaths.

According to data released by UNICEF, at least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. An additional 2 million girls could be at risk by 2030 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a 33 percent reduction in the progress towards ending the practice. This alarming increase in female genital mutilation is said to have occurred due to the shutting of schools, the lockdowns, and the disruption to services that protect girls from the practice.

UNICEF Senior Advisor for the Prevention of Harmful Practices Nankali Maksud stated:

We are losing ground in the fight to end female genital mutilation, with dire consequences for millions of girls where the practice is most prevalent. When girls are not able to access vital services, schools and community networks, their risk of female genital mutilation significantly increases–threatening their health, education and future. As we mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation and approach two years of the pandemic, we must recommit to concerted and well-funded action to get back on track and end the practice everywhere.

In countries such as Djibouti, Guinea, Mali and Somalia, female genital mutilation is still a common practice. Around 90 percent of girls undergo the mutilation. 

According to the UNICEF, the international world must ensure girls’ access to education, healthcare, and employment in order to eliminate female genital mutilation and allow girls to contribute to equitable social and economic development.