FGM-en

Female Genital mutilation (FGM) – The start

ACDA has started addressing the various forms of violence against children, especially Female Genital mutilation (FGM), since 2003 till now.
Since 2003, ACDA contributes in educating the community members and the governmental bodies about the harmful effects of female circumcision\ Female Genital mutilation (FGM), and its negative consequences. As well as, the problems which are resulting from early marriage for children of losing the rights of children and wives.

ACDA addressed the forms of violence through a number of stages:

The first stage: Breaking the silence

Breaking the silence is considered one of the hardest stages that ACDA has gone through, as it is the beginning of work in the area of female circumcision directly and not addressing it as a part of the reproductive health. Hence, ACDA started providing awareness to families in the communities about the facts of female circumcision and responding to the families’ inherited misconceptions regarding medical, social and religious views through awareness-raising sessions for women and men about the concept of circumcision and the harm it causes, opinion of religion and medicine in 2 districts in Assuit.

The second stage: Positive models

Then the second stage, adopting the strategy of positive models, started after breaking the silence. Positive models are members of community who are convinced of the damages of FGM and have taken on the responsibility of educating their peers as they are belonging to the same community and have the same customs and traditions.
Therefore, ACDA provided those positive models with training workshops by of specialized doctors and Islamic and Christian clergy to raise their capabilities and provide them with the correct information about female circumcision and its misconceptions and how to respond to questions related to the topic.
Then, positive models were started to provide awareness to their peers within the communities, within 6 districts in Assiut.

The third stage: Families announce abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation

In the third stage, ACDA began expanding activities to target Female rural pioneers and social workers in order to reach the largest number of families. Whereas, monitoring girls who are at risk of circumcision and following up with each girl at her home is a key activity. In addition to the community activities that are implemented in the communities to influence family’s decision-makers. Therefore, it was necessary to train the Female rural pioneers on raising the awareness of the harms of female circumcision and to carry out home visits to families to provide the necessary psychological support
ACDA also trained a number of social and psychological specialists inside schools, so they can contribute to facing the various forms of violence against children inside the school. As well as provide training to a group of youth on peer education methodology, so they can convey information about the harms of female circumcision to their families through dialogues and awareness raising sessions. Moreover, training sessions were held, in cooperation with the Directorate of Health and Population in Assiut, for doctors on the damages of female circumcision. Besides, ACDA has coordinated with the Endowments Directorate to train some imams and introduce them to the health and medical harm of female circumcision.
All the previous-mentioned activities are followed events for announcing the abandonment of female genital mutilation, where families announce their abandonment of female genital mutilation and they signing an abandonment documents.

Fourth stage: Building the capabilities of the government cadres

ACDA started to form more partnerships with governmental bodies for more cooperating for facing forms of violence against children due to their great role in spreading awareness and taking the required measures to face the various forms of violence and also to ensure the sustainability of the efforts of addressing FGM issue. Also, it was important to unite the messages within all the governmental institutions, such as Directorate of education, Directorate of youth and sports, Directorate of health, which deal on a daily base with the family members in the communities.  So ACDA was concerned about building the capabilities of a number of cadres within each sector of the governmental institutions to eliminate the crime of female circumcision and raise their awareness in (Assiut – Sohag – Qena – Aswan), as a result those cadres will be responsible for Raising the awareness of their peers within their institutions as well as Raising the awareness of the community members they are communicating with. i.e youth  who are attending youth centers and health units..etc.

Success Partners

For uniting efforts and solidarity to eliminate FGM, ACDA had many partnerships at Assiut, Sohag, Qena, and Aswan;

  • 27 CDAs
  • Health and Population Directorates
  • Youth and sports directorates
  • Directorates of Social Solidarity
  • Ministry of Education
  • The Egyptian family home in Assiut
  • Assiut Directorate of Endowments

As a result of ACDA’s efforts, the association became a member of the National Committee for the Elimination of FGM.

Statistics

1
members received awareness activities
1
Facebook page insights
1 +
Girl was rescued from FGM

International conferences

International Conference to End Female Genital Mutilation Burkina Faso in 2018

The International Conference to End Female Genital Mutilation Burkina Faso in 2018 was organized by The African Union, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund in October 2018. The conference included representatives of 33 countries in which the crime of FGM was practiced. It aimed to exchange successful experiences and best practices among countries to reach the end of FGM crime. During the conference, all the participated countries were worked out a statement that includes all the measurements and the efforts that must be taken to reach 0 FGM in 2030 in the African countries. The conference was attended by the President of Burkina Faso and his wife. They were honored for their efforts in the area of FGM and crowned the champion of the elimination of FGM for the year 2018.

UNICEF and UNFPA consultation meeting 2019

As a partner of UNICEF, ACDA attended the annual consultative meeting of the representatives of UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund 2019. The conference was attended by representatives of 27 countries, and it aimed to discuss the efforts made to eliminate the crime of FGM and present Egypt’s efforts towards ending FGM crime. Whereas National Committee to eliminate FGM was established in June 2019.