Nigeria Universal Periodic Review Stakeholder Submission on Female Genital Mutilation

1. Nigeria is a party to all of the nine core international human rights treaties.1 These include the Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (‘CEDAW’) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘ICESCR’). In line with the Conventions’ protections, this Stakeholder Report focuses upon female genital mutilation. 2. In this submission, we make recommendations to the Government of Nigeria on this key issue, implementation of which would see the State move towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 which aims for “gender equality and empowering all women and girls”. 3. We encourage Nigeria to commit to improving its human rights protection and promotion by engaging meaningfully with the fourth cycle of the UPR in 2024. This includes giving full and practical consideration to all recommendations made by Member States, effectively implementing the recommendations Nigeria accepts, and actively engaging with civil society throughout the process