Saturday January 15, 2022
The United Nations has partnered with a leading non-governmental
organisation to step up the fight against female genital mutilation
(FGM) and sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) in Somalia.
The
deal will see the UN and Ifrah Foundation enforce initiatives in areas
with the highest FGM prevalence. They will provide further opportunities
for grassroots interventions and partner with key stakeholders,
including clan elders, clerics, women leaders and youth, for impactful
programming.
“Overall, support for FGM is decreasing, and there
are positive signs of generational changes in the practice that need to
be further nurtured to put an end to FGM,” said Sadiq Syed, the country
programme manager for UN Women Somalia.
Advocacy
Speaking
at the signing ceremony in Mogadishu, Ifrah Ahmed, the founder and
executive director of the foundation, said the partnership will enable
them to reach out to communities and intensify collective advocacy in
the South West State and Jubaland.
“Ending FGM and other harmful
practices is key to promoting overall gender equality and a prerequisite
for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030,” he
said.
The cooperation is part of the Japan-funded Women’s
Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Protection (LEAP) programme, which
seeks to promote gender-responsive stabilisation and recovery of
conflict-affected and displaced women and men in Kismaiyo, the interim
capital of Jubaland, and Baidoa.
The LEAP project team will
organise a series of events, including inclusive and regular
community-led dialogue sessions, to challenge negative norms, support
the community to develop and implement action plan.
The events
will be followed by the proclamation of a declaration of zero tolerance
of negative social norms. A public event will additionally be organized
for people to pledge, through a campaign, not to cut their daughters.
Training
The
partnership will also help identify and train 60 formal, traditional
and religious community leaders to act as leaders in action against FGM
and SGBV, and identify 60 women, men, youth, girls and boys to act as
champions.
The project will as well establish linkages with
similar ongoing initiatives and promote multimedia advocacy and
community outreach activities targeting 25,000 women, men, boys, and
girls to address negative social norms and attitudes that condone gender
inequality.
The linkages will further promote the role of men and boys as advocates for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.
According
to the UNFPA, Somalia has the world’s highest prevalence of FGM, with
an estimated 98 per cent of women and girls aged between 15 and 49
having been subjected to the procedure.