Kampala — THE parliamentary food forum has asked the Government to provide funds for the a campaign against female circumcision. Addressing journalists at Parliament on Friday, Bukwo Woman MP Everline Chelangat urged the Government to establish vocational institutions for girls to fight the custom.

Female circumcision, commonly known as female genital mutilation, is practised in Bukwo and Kapchorwa districts.

Girls aged between 10 and 15 are circumcised to determine their maturity.

Chelangat noted a decline in the practice since the United Nations Population Fund launched a campaign against the custom.

She added that the individuals, who were still carrying out female circumcision, do it at night in bushes.

Kangasis County MP Johnson Toskin implored the Government to enact a law that prohibits the tradition. "The Constitution prohibits circumcision of women but it is silent on the punishment for the offenders. We need a stronger law if we are to address this problem," Toskin said.