UNFPA, guided by its mandate on Reproductive Health (RH), which covers the reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality, and combating Gender Based Violence, and UNICEF by its mandate covering child survival, development and participation, made a decision to develop a joint and innovative initiative that would put into action the Inter-agency Statement on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation.

This resulted in the Joint Programme to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C within a generation in the context of the UN 'Deliver as One' initiative. The objective of the Joint Programme is to accelerate the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in 17 selected countries in Africa, demonstrated by 40 percent reduction of the practice among girls aged 0-15 years in the target communities and at least one country declared free of FGM/C in five years (2008-2012).