UNITED NATIONS, New York – To mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, 6 February, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is organizing a photography exhibition that sheds light on a harmful practice that is still prevalent in many parts of the world.

The 68 Million Girls at Risk exhibition, co-hosted by the alternative media movement Dysturb, also features a new generation of women leaders who have become champions of eliminating this harmful practice, and celebrates successes achieved over the past decades through UNFPA and UNICEF efforts.

An estimated 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM. Although the practice is dwindling, 3.9 million girls are subjected to it every year. In most of the countries where FGM is prevalent, the population growth rate is higher than the percentage decrease in the practice, leading to an increase in the number of girls who undergo FGM. At current rates, an additional estimated 68 million girls face being mutilated by 2030.

WHAT: The 68 Million Girls at Risk photography exhibition

WHEN: Wednesday, 6 February, 11-12 A.M. The show remains on display until 29 March 2019

WHERE: The United Nations Visitors’ Lobby, 46th Street at First Avenue

For more information, please contact:

Jeffrey Bates:  +1 646 750 5354; HYPERLINK "mailto:bates@unfpa.org" \t "_blank" bates@unfpa.org