DHAKA: Parents will face prosecution if they fail to stop their daughters undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) under new measures being announced.

UK prime minister David Cameron is unveiling a £1.4m prevention programme aimed at ending the practice at a global summit in London.

It is estimated that up to 170,000 women and girls living in England and Wales could have undergone FGM.

The Girl Summit will also look at ways to end forced marriage, reports the BBC.

Hosted by the UK government and children’s charity Unicef, the summit will be attended by international politicians, campaigners including the Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, and women who have undergone FGM.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Cameron said, ‘All girls have the right to live free from violence and coercion, without being forced into marriage or the lifelong physical and psychological effects of female genital mutilation’.

‘Abhorrent practices like these, no matter how deeply rooted in societies, violate the rights of girls and women across the world, including here in the UK.’

The FGM prevention programme will see the NHS working with girls affected by the practice.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of UN Women, said the situation is improving but many girls remain at risk.

She said, ‘There’s traction and more people that are willing to take a stand, but not enough yet’.

‘The fact that 30 million girls are at risk of being cut in the coming years clearly means that we have a big challenge on our hands.’

An ‘international charter’ calling for the eradication of FGM and forced marriage within a generation will also be unveiled, along with programmes to identify child and forced marriage in 12 developing countries.

BDST: 1506 HRS, JUL 22, 2014