Plenary focus - February

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a human rights violation and a form of torture. It is an extreme form of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Building on the global momentum to end FGM, it is imperative that we put girls and women centre stage in the post-2015 framework and accelerate an end to all kinds of violence against women and girls by ratifying the Istanbul Convention and putting pressure on the European Commission to come up with comprehensive EU legislation against VAWG.

Tackling the root causes of radicalisation is paramount if we want to keep our societies secure from attacks like those we saw in Paris or keep our young people from fighting for the IS. This means we must end the omnipresent racism in Europe and the marginalisation of minorities; we must fight social exclusion and increase our efforts for social cohesion. We must realise that new policing tools, like profiling and the various forms of data retention, are received as discrimination by those affected, aggravating many Europeans’ daily experiences of racism.