Community Awareness & Education: The Core of Our Approach

At the END FGM/C Network, Africa, community awareness and education are the cornerstones of our efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). Our approach is holistic, grassroots-driven, and inclusive, ensuring that all stakeholders, from community and religious leaders to women, youth, and local organizations, are empowered to take collective action in championing the cause to end female genital mutilation and cutting. The Network believes that long-term change starts with informed communities.

1. Engaging Local Communities

We recognize that ending FGM/C requires constant and consistent engagement within the communities where the practice is most prevalent. Our strategy focuses on building trust and creating safe spaces for open inter-generational dialogue. We collaborate with religious leaders, traditional leaders/chiefs, and community influencers to address societal and cultural sensitivities, and the negative impacts of FGM/C on health, well-being, and human rights by positioning them to be advocates for change.

2. Empowering Women and Girls

The African Network firmly believes that education is empowerment. Our work creates a platform that provides women and girls with information about their rights, health, and the harmful consequences of FGM/C, through community workshops, peer support groups, and school-based programs. Our membership fosters a sense of agency among women and girls, equipping them to say No to the practice and become change agents within their communities. Our focus on working with young people will help break the cycle, enabling a new generation as end FGM/C advocates to champion for an end to the practise.

3. Awareness Campaigns and Media Outreach

Our awareness initiatives extend beyond in-person engagement as the network leverages social media and mass media platforms to disseminate FGM/C messages widely. As a network, we are working to expand the visibility of our work through radio programmes, television documentaries, podcasts, and social media campaigns to reach diverse audiences with culturally sensitive and evidence-based content and information. By engaging the public through storytelling and real-life testimonies, we also aim to shift mindsets and promote alternative rites of passage in our grassroots communities.

Advocacy for Policy Change: A Unified Approach to Ending FGM/C in Africa

The END FGM/C Network, Africa, recognizes that sustainable change in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) requires strong and enforceable legal frameworks. Our advocacy for policy change focuses on working closely with grassroots, governments, policymakers, regional and international bodies to create and implement laws that protect women and girls from FGM/C. The African Network advocates for comprehensive legislation that criminalizes the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting, provides support for survivors, promotes education and public awareness at the national and sub-regional levels.

1. Collaborating with Governments and Policymakers

The Network’s policy advocacy efforts start is centered on building strategic partnerships with key government bodies and legislators in countries where FGM/C is practiced, working with lawmakers to strengthen and/or formulate new laws that explicitly prohibit FGM/C and ensure that these laws are aligned with international human rights standards. Our advocacy approach emphasises the importance of political will in driving the legislative process forward. The Network membership in their individual and collective work engage with ministries of health, gender, and education to integrate end FGM/C strategies into broader policies making FGM/C a priority issue across multiple sectors, we ensure that ending FGM/C becomes a national, sub-regional, and regional agenda.

2. Strengthening Legal Frameworks and Enforcement

In practising countries across Africa, FGM/C laws exist but are not effectively enforced. Our advocacy targets both legal reform and the strengthening of enforcement mechanisms. Our policy advocacy work is meant to ensure that laws and policies against FGM/C are clear, comprehensive, and accompanied by stringent penalties for violations. The network aspires to ensure that beyond drafting legislation, there is collaboration with legal experts, and law enforcement agencies to provide training and capacity strengthening that will create an enabling environment to implement the law efficiently and protect victims. We also push for the inclusion of victim protection measures, such as safe reporting mechanisms, legal aid for survivors, and rehabilitation programs for those affected by the practice.

3. Regional and Global Advocacy

The END FGM/C Network, Africa, recognizes that FGM/C is not confined to national or continental borders. The Network has started engagement with regional bodies such as the African Union (AU) through its specialised committees such as ACERWC, and Regional Economic Communities such as the East African Community (EAC), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to advocate for the adoption and implementation of cross-border frameworks and/or standard operating procedures that combat FGM/C. This includes promoting protocols that ensure cooperation between countries to protect girls who may be at risk of being taken across borders to undergo FGM/C. On the international stage, the Network is expanding its scope of work with organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that African States & Governments fulfil their commitments to international conventions, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).

4. Civil Society and Grassroots Advocacy

The End FGM/C Network, Africa understands that most effective policy change is driven by a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches. Our advocacy efforts are supported by the voices of civil society organisations, local NGOs, and grassroots movements including youth networks. We are empowering these groups to influence policy change by providing them with the tools, information, and platforms to engage in strategic and targeted advocacy. Through coalition-building and capacity-strengthening initiatives, we unite diverse groups under the common goal of ending FGM/C, amplifying their voices and facilitating their access to decision-makers to ensure that policies are informed by the realities at the grassroots level.

5. Engaging Traditional/Cultural and Religious Leaders

Traditional and religious leaders hold significant influence in many practising communities across Africa and as part of our policy advocacy strategy, the Network works to engage these leaders to shift social norms and promote laws that protect women and girls. In strategically partnering with traditional/cultural and religious leaders, the network creates a bridge between traditional/cultural traditions and legal frameworks, making policy change more acceptable and sustainable within communities. We also work to ensure that legal changes are communicated in a culturally sensitive manner, so that communities understand the laws and the reasons behind them.

6. Legal Accountability and Compliance

The Network’s advocacy does not stop at the formulation of laws, the network endeavours to actively monitor the implementation of FGM/C-related policies and hold governments accountable for their commitments. We are working to establish monitoring and evaluation systems that will proactively track progress, identify gaps, and push for necessary amendments where the laws are inadequate. Where there are challenges in enforcement, we work with governments and civil society to address such issues and push for full compliance.

7. Building Momentum for Sustainable Policy Change

Ending FGM/C in Africa requires sustained momentum and the African Network’s advocacy for policy change is not limited to short-term goals. It is part of a long-term strategy to transform the legal and social landscape in practising countries. We advocate for policies that go beyond prohibition, addressing root causes like gender inequality, poverty, and lack of education, and ensuring that survivors are provided with comprehensive care and support.

Partnerships & Collaboration: A Unified Front to End FGM/C

At the END FGM/C Network, Africa, we understand that the fight against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is a collective cause. Our approach is built on fostering strong, sustainable partnerships and collaborations at all levels from grassroots organisations to regional bodies to amplify our impact, call for increased funding and resources, and drive coordinated action to end the practice. The network will be joining forces with like-minded organisations with the aim of creating a united and powerful movement that spans across communities, countries, and the continent.

1. Grassroots Partnerships to Empower Local Movements

The Network’s founding membership is a collective of grassroots organizations that are at the heart of the campaign to end FGM/C. Community-based organisations and groups have the closest ties to practising communities and are often the first responders in both advocacy and intervention efforts to curb the practise. The END FGM/C Network, Africa, collaborates closely with grassroots movements to ensure that our advocacy and programmes are community-driven, culturally sensitive, and responsive to the needs on the practising communities.

2. Fostering Collaboration at National Level to Shape Policy and National Action Plans

At the national level, working with governments, national NGOs, and coalitions to influence policy, develop national action plans, and strengthen legal frameworks that protect women and girls from FGM/C. Our collaboration with national level stakeholders and government agencies ensures that FGM/C is addressed as part of broader gender equality, health, and human rights agendas.

3. Sub-Regional Alliances to Bridging Borders for Collective Action

The END FGM/C Network, Africa, recognizes that FGM/C is a cross-border issue in many parts of the continent and to address this, the network has been forging partnerships at the sub-regional level, working with organizations and governments across neighbouring countries to create joint strategies in practising contexts. The African Network creates an opportunity and vehicle for grassroots organisations to collaborate with sub-regional bodies such as the East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to develop coordinated responses to FGM/C, particularly in cross-border contexts where girls are at risk of being taken across borders to undergo the procedure. These sub-regional alliances will advocate for harmonised laws, shared resources, and cross-border protection mechanisms.

4. Cross-Sector Partnerships for Mobilising Diverse Stakeholders

In ending FGM/C, it is crucial to engage a wide range of stakeholders across various sectors. The END FGM/C Network, Africa will be partnering with health organizations, learning and research institutions, legal entities, and the private sector to create multi-sectoral responses to FGM/C to ensure that efforts to end FGM/C are supported by diverse and influential voices across sectors.