November 19, 2010
UNICEF
Innocenti Research Centre
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
UN for 'Social' Approach Against Genital Cutting
November 18, 2010
AFP
AFP
ROME — The UN children's agency on Thursday proposed a new approach for ending female genital mutilation, saying campaigns should work with communities instead of fighting local traditions.
"One of the key factors that motivate parents' decision to have their girls cut -- 'to do what is best for their daughters' -- may also spur a decision to stop the practice," the report by an Italy-based UNICEF institute said.
But this can happen only "once social norms evolve and social expectations change," said the report by the Innocenti institute, which analysed community-based initiatives in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal and Sudan.
Campaigns in these five countries included important members of local communities, such as religious leaders, as well as using more traditional methods through the local media and working with national governments.
"Rather than ?fighting? against local culture and presenting traditional behaviours as negative, effective programmes propose alternative mechanisms to signal adherence to shared community values," the report said.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, is an initiation procedure involving the partial or total removal of the clitoris of young girls and is widely practiced in North Africa and the Middle East.
It can lead to infections and other serious long term health problems.
The report said that in communities "where FGM/C is seen as the only possible way to act, one of the first steps towards abandonment of FGM/C is to promote awareness of the alternative of not cutting."
In Senegal, for instance, the report pointed out that there is now a law banning female genital mutilation but its implementation has been delayed by two years in order to allow times for community meetings on the issue.
The report said one alternative to the initiation ritual could be "public declarations for the abandonment of the practice" since families will only end the practice if they know that other families will do the same.
"In Egypt, Ethiopia and Northern Sudan, FGM/C has been practised by the majority of the population and national prevalence rates are high," it said.
"In Kenya and Senegal, prevalence rates remain high only among certain population groups," it added.
The report said that ending practices such as FGM that have been around for centuries is "a complex process that takes time."
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tanzania: Anti-mutilation Campaign Underway
November 16, 2010
AfricaNews.com
Jacob Mugini
The Dar es salaam based Children's Dignity Forum (CDF) has started an aggressive campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM) in various rural villages of the Tanzanian Tarime District.
The campaign is meant to rescue thousands of young girls who are lined up for circumcision in the district next month.Some young girls interviewed say they will reject to be mutilated after realising the effects of FGM through the campaign that started here last weekend.
‘I will not be circumcised because I have heard consequences of FGM in this campaign’, Joyce Wangwe, a standard three pupil at Rebu primary school says.
The campaign involves a senior doctor from the Tarime District Government Hospital Dr Placidia Rweyemamu who highlights common effects facing young girls in the area.
On her side the CDF's Legal Officer Ms Grace Mghamba says the campaign has come at the right time when many girls are lineup for circumcision in almost the entire district.
‘We are optimistic that we will serve a good number of girls from undergoing FGM because some have already promised to resist’, the official says.
Tarime is one of the areas in Tanzania where FGM is widely practiced despite the act is against the Tanzanian law.
‘I will not be circumcised because I have heard consequences of FGM in this campaign’, Joyce Wangwe, a standard three pupil at Rebu primary school says.
The campaign involves a senior doctor from the Tarime District Government Hospital Dr Placidia Rweyemamu who highlights common effects facing young girls in the area.
On her side the CDF's Legal Officer Ms Grace Mghamba says the campaign has come at the right time when many girls are lineup for circumcision in almost the entire district.
‘We are optimistic that we will serve a good number of girls from undergoing FGM because some have already promised to resist’, the official says.
Tarime is one of the areas in Tanzania where FGM is widely practiced despite the act is against the Tanzanian law.
Leaders Call for Genital Mutilation Ban
November 16, 2010
UPI.com
UNITED NATIONS -- Political leaders from 42 countries have called on the United Nations to adopt a resolution banning female genital mutilation worldwide, officials said.
In an international appeal published today in the International Herald Tribune, parliamentarians, political leaders and civil society activists from countries concerned urged the adoption by the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly of a resolution to ban the practice, a release from the group No Peace Without Justice said Monday.
A U.N. resolution would change the perception of female genital mutilation to a clear human rights violation against millions of women around the world instead of merely a cultural, religious or public health issue, the NPWJ release said.
"A United Nations General Assembly resolution to ban FGM worldwide would step up and signal the international community's universal condemnation of this blatant human rights violation, with important implications worldwide," Alvilda Jablonko, FGM Program Coordinator of No Peace Without Justice said.
"It would serve to strengthen laws that currently ban FGM and provide new impetus for those nations that currently do not have such laws on the books," she said.
Monday, November 15, 2010
World Leaders Urge UN to Ban Female Genital Mutilation
November 15, 2010
African Press Agency
Kampala (Uganda) Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni was among international leaders from 42 countries who have called on the UN general assembly to adopt a resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide on Monday.
Through an appeal published on Monday in the International Herald Tribune, political leaders from 42 countries around the world call upon the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a Resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide.
Among the numerous prominent personalities who have signed are First Ladies Janet Kataha Museveni of Uganda, Chantal Compaore of Burkina Faso, Mariana Mane Sanha of Guinea Bissau, Chantal De Souza Yayi, of Benin, and Clio Napoletano of Italy.
Others are the Nobel laureates Nadime Gordimer, Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi and Marty Ahtisaari, as well as parliamentarians, political leaders and civil society activists from countries concerned by the practice of FGM and others.
The appeal has been launched by the international NGO No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC), the European Network for the Prevention and Eradication of Harmful Traditional Practices (EuroNet FGM) and the Senegalese association "La Palabre", in the framework of a campaign aiming at promoting the adoption by the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly of a Resolution to ban female genital mutilation worldwide, and by doing so to strengthen this decisive battle for human rights worldwide.
A United Nations General Assembly resolution to ban FGM worldwide would step up and signal the international community’s universal condemnation of this blatant human rights violation, with important implications worldwide. It would serve to strengthen laws that currently ban FGM and provide new impetus for those nations that currently do not have such laws on the books.
Critically, a UN resolution would contribute significantly to a global change in the perception of FGM as a clear human rights violation against millions of women around the world, instead of masking it merely as a cultural, religious or public health issue.
This is a shift that women’s rights advocates have tenaciously pushed for over the past two decades.
An End to FGM: Afar Districts' Success Story
November 15, 2010
The Reporter
Yelibenwork Ayele
The Reporter
Yelibenwork Ayele
The Amibara district in the Afar Regional State declared the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Thursday at a ceremony held to mark the occasion at the town of Werer.
Awash Fentale, a neighboring district, is scheduled to make a similar declaration today.
In Afar region, women have traditionally been subjected to the most severe form of the practice – infibulations - usually between the ages of seven and nine.
FGM as practiced in the Afar Regional State results in birth complication, problems of the renal system and even death. The Afar used to believe that their religion demanded the circumcision of girls and that was why they adhered to the practice for centuries, residents of Werer said. However, now that they had unlearned the misconception, they would never expose their daughters to the knife of genital cutting, they said.
“We now understand that we ignorantly lost thousands of our girls and women due to circumcision, but we don’t want that to go on unchecked,” Ibrahim Musa, a resident of Werer said.
The change in the attitude of the districts’ residents was the result of continuous community conversations facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF in collaboration with the regional government and local officials.
“We all know that when a piece of flesh is sliced off the genital area of a girl it hurts and causes copious bleeding but it had not occurred to us that that was the cause of the troubles and deaths of most of the women among us,” Fatuma Ayuma, a twenty-eight year old and mother of two girls said. She said that none of her two daughters was subjected to FGM and they never would be as long as she lived.
According to Fatuma, the effort of stopping FGM is still facing challenges in rural areas that are far away from the districts and where follow-up activities are not done. She said that in addition local religious leaders were urging the people to reject the idea of abandoning FGM.
Ethiopia is one of the 17 countries in Africa benefiting from the Joint UNFPA/UNICEF Program. The Joint Program aims to accelerate the abandonment of FGM by expanding existing efforts and to declare at least one country FGM free by 2012.
Afar region ranks second in the prevalence of FGM in Ethiopia (after Somali Region) with a prevalence rate of 92 per cent, according to the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey.
A number of initiatives have been undertaken to upgrade awareness and put in place structures for the abandonment of FGM in the intervention districts of the Joint Program. A Consensus Building Conference was held in Zone 3 of Afar Region last year among regional, district, and sub-district government and administration officials who unanimously agreed to promote community dialogue in their respective communities on the abandonment of FGM. They pledged to play an exemplary role in their community by not circumcising their own children and agreed to introduce and enforce the anti-FGM legislation after the communities reached a consensus on abandonment.
Anti-FGM committees were set up at the sub-district level comprising the clan leader, a community elder, former circumcisers, and the Kadi, a local judge. Anti-FGM village committees were also set up composed of two former circumcisers, a village elder, clan leader, and the religious leader in the community to teach the community on the consequences of FGM and report cases when they see evidence of it.
Uncircumcised and newborn girls are being registered, a record which serves as a follow-up mechanism to protect them. The registers are reported on a quarterly basis. Recent figures show that the number of uncircumcised girls in the six intervention districts of the Joint Program has reached 4,000. This is unprecedented in the region.
“With today’s public declaration of the abandonment of female genital mutilation or cutting, a new chapter opens for girls of Amibara District,” Tabeyin Gedlu, UNICEF Project Specialist, said. “Following an intense process of dialogue and discussion, the entire community has rallied to say no more to the ancient practice that has caused so much pain and suffering for countless generations of women. A new era is dawning for these communities and we urge vigilance in the days and months ahead to make sure that these hard earned commitments are not compromised.”
In Afar region, women have traditionally been subjected to the most severe form of the practice – infibulations - usually between the ages of seven and nine.
FGM as practiced in the Afar Regional State results in birth complication, problems of the renal system and even death. The Afar used to believe that their religion demanded the circumcision of girls and that was why they adhered to the practice for centuries, residents of Werer said. However, now that they had unlearned the misconception, they would never expose their daughters to the knife of genital cutting, they said.
“We now understand that we ignorantly lost thousands of our girls and women due to circumcision, but we don’t want that to go on unchecked,” Ibrahim Musa, a resident of Werer said.
The change in the attitude of the districts’ residents was the result of continuous community conversations facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF in collaboration with the regional government and local officials.
“We all know that when a piece of flesh is sliced off the genital area of a girl it hurts and causes copious bleeding but it had not occurred to us that that was the cause of the troubles and deaths of most of the women among us,” Fatuma Ayuma, a twenty-eight year old and mother of two girls said. She said that none of her two daughters was subjected to FGM and they never would be as long as she lived.
According to Fatuma, the effort of stopping FGM is still facing challenges in rural areas that are far away from the districts and where follow-up activities are not done. She said that in addition local religious leaders were urging the people to reject the idea of abandoning FGM.
Ethiopia is one of the 17 countries in Africa benefiting from the Joint UNFPA/UNICEF Program. The Joint Program aims to accelerate the abandonment of FGM by expanding existing efforts and to declare at least one country FGM free by 2012.
Afar region ranks second in the prevalence of FGM in Ethiopia (after Somali Region) with a prevalence rate of 92 per cent, according to the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey.
A number of initiatives have been undertaken to upgrade awareness and put in place structures for the abandonment of FGM in the intervention districts of the Joint Program. A Consensus Building Conference was held in Zone 3 of Afar Region last year among regional, district, and sub-district government and administration officials who unanimously agreed to promote community dialogue in their respective communities on the abandonment of FGM. They pledged to play an exemplary role in their community by not circumcising their own children and agreed to introduce and enforce the anti-FGM legislation after the communities reached a consensus on abandonment.
Anti-FGM committees were set up at the sub-district level comprising the clan leader, a community elder, former circumcisers, and the Kadi, a local judge. Anti-FGM village committees were also set up composed of two former circumcisers, a village elder, clan leader, and the religious leader in the community to teach the community on the consequences of FGM and report cases when they see evidence of it.
Uncircumcised and newborn girls are being registered, a record which serves as a follow-up mechanism to protect them. The registers are reported on a quarterly basis. Recent figures show that the number of uncircumcised girls in the six intervention districts of the Joint Program has reached 4,000. This is unprecedented in the region.
“With today’s public declaration of the abandonment of female genital mutilation or cutting, a new chapter opens for girls of Amibara District,” Tabeyin Gedlu, UNICEF Project Specialist, said. “Following an intense process of dialogue and discussion, the entire community has rallied to say no more to the ancient practice that has caused so much pain and suffering for countless generations of women. A new era is dawning for these communities and we urge vigilance in the days and months ahead to make sure that these hard earned commitments are not compromised.”
Female Genital Cutting Needs More Dialogue: Researchers
November 15, 2010
Winnepeg Free Press
Melissa Martin
Winnepeg Free Press
Melissa Martin
BANNED in Canada and under fire from international organizations, female genital cutting -- also known as female genital mutilation -- is impacting more and more new Canadians.
To move forward on the issue in Winnipeg, local researchers, at a talk on the weekend, said educators need to open their ears to being educated themselves.
On Saturday, at the final talk of a University of Manitoba series examining immigrant issues, representatives from the Sexuality Education and Resource Centre shared their experience with building Our Selves, Our Daughters, a community-driven program to address female genital cutting (FGC).
One thing they learned: Success for the program, which is ongoing, depended on "an invitation" from the ethnic communities affected by FGC. "We have to balance respecting women, respecting cultures. Sometimes, it feels like we're walking on a tightrope," said SERC co-ordinator Shereen Denetto.
There are no data on how many Canadian women are impacted by FGC, though SERC researchers believe there is a "high likelihood that many are affected in Winnipeg." The practice has been banned in Canada since 1997, but statistics show up to 98 per cent of women from parts of countries such as Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia are affected. In Winnipeg, SERC's outreach on FGC involved consulting with women and community leaders from ethnic communities impacted by the practice and letting them lead the discussions. That meant dropping Western-influenced notions about FGC, educators said, and providing women with information, encouragement and safe spaces to share their thoughts on sexuality and cultural traditions.
For instance, while some Western media portray the practice as outright misogynist, in most cultures FGC is a tradition passed between women who believe it is the best way to protect their children from harms they believe will occur if the children are not circumcised. Building trust with local new Canadian communities to discuss those issues without judgment, SERC researchers said, is crucial to unpacking some of these issues. "We've really learned the importance of invitation from the community," Denetto said. "You cannot come in as a mainstream agency and do this work (without that)."
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Group Mobilizes Youths Against Female Genital Mutilation
November 11, 2010
Nigerian Compass
Jonathan Eze
INTER-AFRICA Committee, IAC-Nigeria, an affiliate of IAC-Africa region, has taken steps to discourage female genital mutilation and other traditional practices affecting the health of women and children.
The organisation recently organised a five-day seminar in Lagos to train youths from eight states as peer educators on the essence of discouraging female genital mutilation.
The organisation said it aimed at eliminating harmful traditional practises that impinge on the reproductive health, right and well being of women and the girl-child through advocacy, social mobilisation, empowerment, information and workshops.
Speaking with the Nigerian Compass, its Executive Director, Mrs Oyefunsho Orenuga, said that the organisation was establised in February 1984, after a seminar in Dakar, Senegal with its headquarters in the premises of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
She said: “ IAC-Nigeria was inaugurated on May 31, 1985 through the efforts of Dr Irene Thomas. She served faithfully as the President and Executive Director until she passed on in 2005.
“IAC applies a multi-dimension approach to influence policy and action and to create positive attitudinal change through the implementation of projects at the community level.”
In its determined efforts to discourage female genital mutilation, the organisation has embarked on sensitisation programmes at the grassroots through research, production and distribution of promotional materials like face caps, T-shirts, posters and fliers among others. Besides female genital mutilation, the organisation also campaigns against child marriage, teenage pregnancy, violence against women, widowhood rights and rites, unhygienic delivery practises, nutritional taboos, tribal marks and body scarification, among others.
The Information Officer, Miss Feyikemi Fella, said that the programme was sponsored by a United Kingdom-based organisation, Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD) through Sigrid Rausing Trust.
She added that it was an interactive session that enabled the participants to ask questions and learn more about what is expected of them as peer educators.
Some of the participants spoke with the Nigerian Compass.
Miss Teniola Akinyemi, a Biochemistry graduate of Lagos State University, said that the seminar discussed in details the meaning of the concept of mutilation, effects and the associated dangers.
She said: “I learnt so much from the training. The knowledge I have gained and the skills I have acquired will equip me to preach against these unwholesome acts. I have also learnt about some leadership skills that will enable me to facilitate any programme that I am organising to enlighten the people.”
On the implications of mutilations, Miss Akinyemi said that the experience was traumatic, especially as some of victims bleed to death while others experience painful sex.
She added: “It can also result into urine retention which can damage the bladder, painful menstruation, and sexually transmitted diseases from the unsterilised instruments used by the quacks that handle it. I shall visit the general hospitals, especially children wards and the ante-natal departments to enlighten the patients on the need to avoid these harmful practices.”
Miss Tolu Bisi-Adeniyi, a graduate of Kaduna State University, spoke on why some men will ensure their wives pass through the process of mutilation.
She said: “Some did it because they think their wives will be promiscuous, while others felt that they enjoy sex more with mutilated ladies since their organ would have been cut and stitched making it narrow to penetrate. I shall use the facebook to propagate what I have gained from this programme.
“Some of the victims have lost self-confidence and esteem. Also, the vagina is very close to the bladder, so in some cases they are wounded. I have been broadened and I want to encourage the organisers and their sponsors to continue with the crusade.”
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