UN warns 4.5 million girls face FGM in 2026, urging global action to end the harmful practice and protect girls’ rights

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has estimated that at least 4.5 million girls are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in 2026, underscoring the ongoing global challenge of eradicating the practice.

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According to UNFPA, an estimated 230 million girls and women worldwide have already been subjected to FGM, a procedure that alters or injures female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognised internationally as a violation of human rights.

Even when performed by healthcare professionals under sterilised conditions, UNFPA emphasised that medicalised FGM is neither safe nor necessary.

“There is never any medical justification for it,” the agency stated, highlighting the enduring physical and psychological consequences for survivors.

FGM is reported in 94 countries across all continents, with Africa bearing the heaviest burden. In Ethiopia, for instance, three-quarters of women and girls aged 15 to 49 have undergone some form of the procedure.

Despite global efforts to end the practice, entrenched social norms and misconceptions—such as the belief that anti-FGM campaigns are foreign-driven—continue to hinder progress.

Data from roughly a third of countries where FGM is practised indicate a decline over the past three decades, with one in three girls now affected compared with one in two previously. UNFPA highlighted that two-thirds of men and women globally support ending the practice.

Ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, observed annually on 6 February, UNFPA called for wider partnerships and cost-effective interventions to challenge harmful social norms.

“Governments, donors, the private sector, communities, grassroots organisations, girls, women, boys and men all have a role to play as agents of change,” the agency said.

Recent legislative and cultural shifts offer hope. In 2025, Islamic scholars in Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia issued national fatwas declaring that there are no religious grounds to justify FGM.

Meanwhile, schools increasingly teach comprehensive sexuality education to raise awareness among children about the dangers of genital mutilation.

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UNFPA stressed that ending FGM by 2030 requires sustained global commitment, with targeted interventions to protect girls and ensure they grow up free from this harmful practice.