in 36% of central african republic women. this is a decline over the 1994 survey, which reported 43%. the prevalence in the 2000 survey varied with religion in central african republic; fgm was prevalent in 46% of animist women, 39% of muslim, 36% of protestants, and 35% of catholic women. in 1996, the president issued an ordinance prohibiting fgm throughout the country. it has the force of national law. any violation of the ordinance is punishable by imprisonment of from one month and one day to two years and a fine of 5,100 to 100,000 francs (approximately us$8–160). no arrests are known to have been made under the law. as fgm is less prevalent among younger women according to city university london in 2015, this suggested a decline in the practice. chad in chad's first survey on fgm in 2004, fgm prevalence rate was 45%. a later unicef survey in 2014-2015 reported 38.4% fgm prevalence amongst women and girls aged 15 to 49, and 10% amongst girls 14-years old or younger. the prevalence varies with religion in chad; fgm is prevalent in 61% of muslim women, 31% of catholics, 16% of protestants, and 12% of traditional religions. the prevalence also varies with ethnic groups; the arabs (95%), hadjarai (94%), ouadai (91%) and fitri-batha (86%), and less than 2.5% among the gorane, tandjile and mayo-kebbi. law no 6/pr/2002 on the promotion of reproductive health has provisions prohibiting fgm, but does not provide for sanctions. fgm may be punished under existing laws against assault, wounding, and mutilation of the body. comoros female genital mutilation is officially discouraged in comoros. côte d'ivoire as of 2018, unicef's latest data, from 2016, reports 10% of ivory coast girls aged 0 to 14 had been subjected to fgm, while 37% of females aged 15 to 49 had so. the latter figure is practically unchanged from a prior 2006 survey, in which the prevalence of fgm was reported at 36.4% among women there aged 15–49. a 2005 survey found that 42% of all women aged between 15 and 49 had been subjected to fgm. this is similar to the fgm reported rate of 46% in 1998 and 43% in 1994. the prevalence varies with religion in côte d'ivoire; fgm is prevalent in 76% of muslim women, 45% of animist, 14% of catholic and 13% of protestant women. a 1998 law provides that harm to the integrity of the genital organ of a woman by complete or partial removal, excision, desensitization or by any other procedure will, if harmful to a woman's health, be punishable by imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 360,000 to two million cfa francs (approximately us$576–3,200). the penalty is five to twenty years incarceration if a death occurs during the procedure and up to five years' prohibition of medical practice, if this procedure is carried out by a doctor. democratic republic of the congo female genital mutilation in the democratic republic of the congo is rare, but it takes place among some populations in northern parts of the country. fgm is illegal: the law imposes a penalty of two to five years of prison and a fine of 200,000 congolese francs on any person who violates the "physical or functional integrity" of the genital organs. the prevalence of fgm is estimated at 5% of women in the country. type ii is usually performed. djibouti estimates for fgm prevalence rate of fgm in djibouti range from 93% to 98%. in a unicef 2010 report, djibouti has the world's second highest rate of type iii fgm, with about two thirds of all djibouti women undergoing the procedure; type i is the next most common form of female circumcision practiced in the country. like its neighboring countries, a large percentage of women in djibouti also undergo re-infibulation after birth or a divorce. two thirds of the women claimed tradition and religion as the primary motivation for undergoing fgm. a predominantly muslim country, islamic clerics in djibouti have been divided on the fgm issue, with some actively supporting the practice and others opposing it. fgm was outlawed in the country's revised penal code that went into effect in april 1995. article 333 of the penal code provides that persons found guilty of this practice will face a five-year prison term and a fine of one million djibouti francs (approximately us$5,600). djibouti ratified the maputo protocol in 2005. egypt as of 2018, unicef's latest data, from 2015, reports 14% of egyptian girls aged 0 to 14 had been subjected to fgm, while 87% of females aged 15 to 49 had so. this is down from a previous 2008 study that reported the prevalence at 91%. the 2016 unicef report stated that the share of girls aged 15 to 19 who had undergone fgm dropped from 97% in 1985 to 70% in 2015. the percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who had undergone fgm in the years 2004–2015 was 87%, while girls aged 0 to 14 years who had undergone fgm in the years 2010–2015 numbered 14%. earlier, a study in 2000 found that 97% of egypt's population practiced fgm and a 2005 study found that over 95% of egyptian women have undergone some form of fgm. 38% of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who had heard about fgm thought the practice should end, while 28% of the boys and men those ages did. although it has had limited effect, egypt's ministry of health and population has banned all forms of female genital mutilation since 2007. the ministry's order declared it is 'prohibited for any doctors, nurses, or any other person to carry out any cut of, flattening or modification of any natural part of the female reproductive system'. islamic authorities in the nation also stressed that islam opposes female genital mutilation. the grand mufti of egypt, ali gomaa, said that it is "prohibited, prohibited, prohibited." egypt passed a law banning fgm. the june 2007 ministry ban eliminated a loophole that allowed girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons. there had previously been provisions under the penal code involving "wounding" and "intentional infliction of harm leading to death", as well as a ministerial decree prohibiting fgm. in december 1997, the court of cassation (egypt's highest appeals court) upheld a government banning of the practice providing that those who did not comply would be subjected to criminal and administrative punishments. in egypt's first trial for committing female genital mutilation, two men were acquitted in november 2014; the doctor was ordered to pay the girl's mother compensation. in 2015 after an appeal the doctor was sentenced to more than two years in prison and the father was given a three-month suspended sentence. on 30 may 2018, the dar al-ifta al-misriyyah, a governmental body which advises on islamic law, declared fgm 'religiously forbidden'. health minister ahmed emad el-din rady presented a six-step plan to eliminate fgm in egypt by 2030. eritrea the government of eritrea surveyed and published an official fgm prevalence rate of 89% in 2003. it was once over 93%. historically, about 50% of the women in rural areas underwent type iii with stitching to close the vulva, while type i and ii was more common in urban areas. overall, about a third of all women in eritrea have undergone type iii fgm with stitching. most fgm (68%) are performed on baby girls less than 1 year old, another 20% before they turn 5 years old. about 60% and 18% of eritrean women believe fgm is a religious requirement, according to unicef, and the eritrean government, respectively.p. 109 the prevalence varies with woman's religion, as well as by their ethnic group. a 2002 unicef study shows fgm prevalence among 99% of muslim, 89% of catholic and 85% of protestant women aged 15–49 years. eritrea outlawed all forms of female genital mutilation with proclamation 158/2007 in march 2007. the law envisions a fine and imprisonment for anyone conducting or commissioning fgm. ethiopia the who gives a prevalence of 65% for fgm in ethiopia (2016) in women age 15–49 and falling to 47.1 in those 15–19 years. in a 2016 unicef report, ethiopia's regional prevalence of fgm is : afar region – 91.2%; somali region – 98.5%; harari region – 81.7%; dire dawa 75.3%; amhara region – 1.4% to 21.9%; oromia region – 75.6%; addis ababa city – 54%; benishangul-gumuz region – 62.9%; tigray region – 24.2%; southern region – 62%; gambela region 33%. by ethnicity, it has a prevalence of 98.5% in somali; 92.3% hadiya; 98.4% afar and 23% tigray. the prevalence also varies with religion in ethiopia; fgm is prevalent in 92% of muslim women and with lower prevalence in other religions: 65.8% protestants, 58.2% catholics and 55% traditional religions. fgm has been made illegal by the 2004 penal code. gambia anti-fgm road sign, bakau, gambia, 2005 female genital mutilation is prevalent in the gambia. a 2006 unicef survey found a 78.3% prevalence rate in the gambia. in a 2013 report, an estimated 76.3% of girls and women have been subjected to fgm/c. as fgm is less prevalent among younger women according to city university london in 2015, this suggested a decline in the practice. the gambia's predominant religion is islam (90%), and it has many ethnic groups. prevalence rates of fgm/c vary significantly between the ethnic groups: sarahule (fgm rate of 98%), mandinka (97%), djola (87%), serer (43%), and wolof (12%). urban areas report fgm/c rates of about 56%, whereas in rural areas, rates exceed 90%. a majority of gambian women who underwent fgm/c claimed they did it primarily because religion mandates it. the age when fgm is done on gambian girls ranges from 7 days after birth up to pre-adolescence. a 2011 clinical study reports 66% fgms in the gambia were type i, 26% were type ii and 8% type iii. about a third of all women in gambia with fgm/c, including type i, suffered health complications because of the procedure. in 2015, gambia's president yahya jammeh has banned fgm. ghana female genital mutilation is present in ghana in some regions of the country, primarily in the north of the country, in upper east region. according to the who, its prevalence is 3.8%. in 1989, the head of the government of ghana, president rawlings, issued a formal declaration against fgm. article 39 of ghana's constitution also provides in part that traditional practices that are injurious to a person's health and well being are abolished. the criminal code was amended in 1994 to outlaw fgm, and the law was strengthened in 2007. ghana ratified the maputo protocol in 2007. guinea guinea has the second highest fgm prevalence rate in the world. in a 2005 survey, 96% of all guinea women aged between 15 and 49 had been cut. that is a slight decline in the practice from the 1999 recorded fgm rate of 98.6%. among the 15- to 19-year-olds the prevalence was 89%, among 20- to 24-year-olds 95%. about 50% of the women in guinea believe fgm is a religious requirement. guinea is predominantly a muslim country, with 90% of the population practicing islam. the high fgm rates are observed across all religions in guinea; fgm is prevalent in 99% of muslim women, 94% of catholics and protestants, and 93% of animist women. fgm is illegal in guinea under article 265 of the penal code. the law sentences death to the perpetrator if the girl dies within 40 days after the fgm. article 6 of the guinean constitution, which outlaws cruel and inhumane treatment, could be interpreted to include these practices, should a case be brought to the supreme court. guinea signed the maputo protocol in 2003 but has not ratified it. article 305 of guinea's penal code also bans fgm, but nobody has yet been sentenced under any of guinea's fgm-related laws. in guinea, instead of stopping fgm, the trend is towards medicalization of fgm, where the mutilation is advertised under hygienic conditions by medically trained staff, who see fgm practice an additional source of income. per the above 2005 survey, 27% of girls were cut by medically trained staff. guinea-bissau female genital mutilation is present in guinea-bissau, and have been estimated at a 50% prevalence rate in 2000. a law banning the practice nationwide