Cairo. November 26, 2005. Female genital mutilation is carried out on at least 3 million women and girls a year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, says a new Unicef report. Nearly half of those circumcised, a tradition believed to enhance a girl`s beauty, tame her sexual desires, maintain her honour and increase her marriage prospects, are in Egypt and Ethiopia. Most are cut between ages four to 12. Unicef says the life-risking custom, which is largely a social practice, not a religious one, could be eliminated within a generation with government backing, but there should be a "collective choice" not a ban.