ERBIL — Kurdish women’s rights activists in cooperation with international organizations have launched a joint project to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) across the Kurdistan Region.

During a conference on Monday, Kurdistan Region’s High Council of Women’s Affairs, in cooperation with UNICEF and Heartland International Organizations, announced the beginning of the project that aims to bring about a strategy to fight FGM in the Kurdish society.

The first stage of the project will be surveying the popularity of the FGM across Kurdistan Region and then design a plan to eradicate it with the help of the government, social activist, religious figures and international organizations.

The event was attended by government officials, foreign envoys, clerics and Kurdish human rights activists.

“FGM is a violation against the humanity of a woman,” Pakhshan Zangana, secretary general of the High Council of Women’s Affairs previously told The Guardian. “The practice robs women of their will, objectifies and dehumanises them and must be completely eradicated from Kurdistan.”

According to a survey by the UN and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2014, 68% of people, including religious leaders, said the practice should be eliminated, and almost the same number said it should be banned as a tradition.