- Title: 'I am my own U.N.' - Waris Dirie, FGM activist
- Date: 7th March 2019
- Summary: ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 7, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS PROFANITY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MODEL AND FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM) ACTIVIST, WARIS DIRIE, SAYING: "They (the U.N.) don't do what they are supposed to do. I am telling you the truth right now, I do a better job that fucking U.N. ok. So, I have no business with U.N., I am my own U.N." PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES OF DIRIE DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MODEL AND FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM) ACTIVIST, WARIS DIRIE, SPEAKING ON STAGE, SAYING: "If it can carry anyone in this world and can encourage anyone to do their best and to know that you can do better than this and that you are better than this and that you have this strength and that you, you have the ability to do whatever you chose in life, that, if this going to carry anyone to help anyone, I am great (grateful) to be part of it, so I thank you so much." PEOPLE CLAPPING AFTER DIRIE SPEECH
- Embargoed: 21st March 2019 16:31
- Keywords: FGM Femal Genital Mutilation Waris Dirie Desert Rose
- Location: UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS / ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND / PARIS, FRANCE / VENICE LIDO, ITALY
- City: UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS / ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND / PARIS, FRANCE / VENICE LIDO, ITALY
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Theater
- Reuters ID: LVA006A50VLTZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: PROFANITY IN SHOTS 5 & 16
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still occurring because the world is turning a blind eye to a crime against children, Waris Dirie, the Somali nomad turned supermodel, said on Thursday (March 7).
Dirie has used her fame as a Pirelli calendar model and a "Bond girl" playing opposite Timothy Dalton in "The Living Daylights" to campaign against female circumcision.
Dirie underwent FGM when she was 5 years old; her sister bled to death after the procedure. Aged 13, Dirie fled an arranged marriage, eventually arriving in London.
Her autobiography "Desert Flower" became a film and is now a musical by Gil Mehmert and Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, which will premiere in the Swiss town of St. Gallen in February 2020.
Dirie said it was shocking and surprising to find her life story was now going on stage, but still the message about FGM had still not got through.
The World Health Organization says more than 200 million women alive today have survived FGM, mainly in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
FGM, which inflicts severe pain on young girls and causes long-term health problems if they survive, is recognized internationally as a human rights violation that constitutes extreme discrimination against women.
Ahead of International Women's Day on Friday, Dirie's Desert Flower Foundation has teamed up with lingerie brand Coco de Mer to make a short film, directed by British photographer Rankin, to raise awareness against FGM.
The aim is to help collect 10 million signatures by the end of 2019, to be then presented to the U.N. Secretary General.
When asked about working with the United Nations the campaigner said "I have no business with U.N., I am my own U.N."
In 2012 the General Assembly passed a resolution banning the practice of Female Genital Mutilation.
(Production: Cecile Mantovani, Jayson Mansaray) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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