Ø To improve the overall quality of health and well being of Somali women through addressing FGM related health problems.
Ø To act as a catalyst for communities to abandon the practice of FGM by themselves
Ø To promote national action towards the practice's eradication in Somaliland and Somalia.
The forum was conceived of as having a community level approach, which would allow those at the grassroots, those who are primarily concerned with the practice of FGM, to speak out, and be listened to. BWHFS wished to avoid 'preaching to the converted' and so a diversity of different opinions were heard during the five days of the forum. Some of the concrete recommendations that formed a conclusion to the event are detailed below. Although the participants were mainly from Somaliland and Somalia, other countries represented included the UK, Sweden, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia. (The number of international participants dropped sharply after the September 11th attack in the USA.)
The feedback received was very positive; we carried out an evaluation every day so that we could make any minor adjustments necessary to the smooth running of the event. Overall the forum was successful in providing a platform for the community to discuss and debate strategies for the eradication of FGM, and there was widespread media coverage of the event in all the local newspapers, the local television and radio, both in Somaliland and in London, on the BBC Somali World Service. This helped to raise awareness about the issue of FGM amongst the Somali population both regionally and internationally.
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The forum came up with three key areas around which the recommendations were based.
1. Education (Information)
2. Raising Awareness (Discussion)
3. Collaboration
Some of the recommendations under each category are as follows:
EDUCATION
Ø Provide skills training to circumcisers in order to help them gain an alternative income
Ø Advocate for the school curriculum to include study of human anatomy and physiology, to counter lack of knowledge about the subject, as well as information about the harmful effects of FGM.
Ø Involve sheikhs and religious leaders in dialogue with Muslim scholars from outside Somalia and Somaliland, particularly Saudi Arabia, in order to clarify their position on Sunna.
Ø Educate women and girls in basic skills, through income generating projects in order to empower them
Ø Create a database and directory of information about FGM and anti-FGM groups in Somalia and Somaliland.
RAISING AWARENESS
Ø Train respected members of rural communities to raise awareness about FGM and provide them with ongoing evaluation and monitoring.
Ø Change the attitudes of men and boys by fully involving them in the campaign against FGM
Ø Provide resources to raise the awareness of the entire Somali population with IEC materials and word of mouth.
Ø Use poem, role-play, drama and song to reach a wider audience.
Ø Use of posters at strategic locations, eg check-points.
COLLABORATION
Ø Establish a trust fund for health and education to be administered in the UK, with branches in Somalia and Somaliland.
Ø NGOs and campaigning groups to target ministries, so that programmes to combat FGM can be implemented in all policy areas
Ø Creation of an umbrella group of all anti-FGM groups working in the region, to hold quarterly meetings, rotated by region.
Ø Larger NGOs to provide funding for grassroots and community groups, and assist with capacity building.
Ø Formation of international Somali network to share experience, techniques and materials which have been successfully used in the campaign against FGM.
Ø Research conducted periodically and feedback to be given to all concerned organisations concerning the impact of anti FGM programmes.
This forum was held at an exciting juncture in the history of the campaign against FGM in Somalia. The key issues in dealing with the practice locally - the attitudes of religious leaders, the 'sunna' debate, the empowerment of women in society as a whole - are starting to be addressed, and are going through a process of rapid change. At state level, the government of Somaliland are willing to liase with community groups and enact legislation to signify official disapproval of FGM. Black Women's Health and Family Support (BWHFS), with many years experience of working at the grassroots level in the UK, answered a call from the women of Somalia for a platform to be held locally, which would bring together all the key players in the fight against FGM to assess the current situation and build alliances for further effective campaigning and concrete action.
In view of the fact that many international conferences have been held around the world to look at the issue of FGM, what was it about this particular forum which made it such a special event?
With 'this' initiative, BWHFS wanted first and foremost to ensure that all the main interest groups (both at local and national levels) within the country were included, and given the chance to speak and be listened to. It was felt that there was no point in trying to convert the converted - invitations were thus sent to both traditional circumcisers, religious leaders who advocated for circumcision, midwives who practiced the operation and ordinary Somali men and women, old and young, who were not yet involved in the fight to eradicate FGM. These were the people considered to be at the root of the issue and the reason why FGM has continued virtually unabated in Somalia, despite longstanding initiatives to counter the practice.
BWHFS's work in this field, over many years, had also shown that for FGM to be eradicated amongst practising communities outside Somalia ( e.g. in Europe and North America), - efforts had also to be simultaneously employed, amongst the people, in the country of origin. Whilst delegates came from East Africa and Europe, the majority of participants present, were from all regions of Somaliland and Somalia - some having travelled for four days to reach Hargeisa.
Another motivation for the organisation, was the need to initiate a dialogue between those already working on the issue of FGM with the Somali community (both inside and out of the country) and to provide a platform for the developing of strategies, specifically targeted at Somali people. Progress, BWHFS believe, is only likely to be made by facing up to the actual reality of the situation in Somalia itself and listening to the opinions/taking into account the circumstances of the people there and in those areas where Somali people have settled. In Somalia, the whole society is involved to some degree, with the practice of FGM. To progress with eradication efforts, activists 'in-country' and 'outside' need to work together. Years of working at the community level, in direct contact 'with' the people themselves, has shown BWHFS that meaningful transformation will only come about when things begin to move at the grassroots, within the hearts of ordinary Somali people.
This ground-breaking forum has managed (with the active participation from all levels of Somali society and substantial media input) to bring the issue of FGM back into the forefront of public attention in Somaliland. Along with providing a platform for some very challenging, but infinitely valuable debates on various aspects of the issue (amongst the religious leaders, traditional circumcisers and community members involved, for example), it managed to produce some important conclusions and recommendations for progressing eradication efforts both within Africa and the UK. It is hoped that the successful conclusion of this initiative will signal a new, truly participatory and unified, approach to the fight against FGM in Somalia and to the combating of the practice amongst Somali communities living overseas.
Link to:
Female Genital Mutilation
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