A bilingual community of practice building bridges between professionals from Africa and Europe aiming to put an end to Female Genital Mutilation
The Community of practice on Female Genital Mutilation (CoP FGM) is an international, bilingual (French/English) network, gathering professionals and activists working on female genital mutilation. The CoP FGM aims to put an end to FGM and promote women and girls’ well-being and human rights.
You work on Female Genital Mutilation? Join the community of practice and broaden your horizons!
The thematic discussions, launched every 2 months, encourage knowledge sharing and good practice between the CoP FGM’s members. The discussions are in both English and in French. The member’s contributions are translated by the moderators.
Given the power men have in their communities, men (and boys) are often seen as central actors with important potential to influence the prevalence of FGM in their communities.
The aim of the discussion is to gain better understanding of the opportunities and challenges of involving men and to identify which anti-FGM programming strategies can be used to bring about truly gender transformative change.
Sometimes, girls are taken across national borders in order to undergo FGM in a country where the law against the practice is either non-existent or less strict. This phenomenon is known as cross-border female genital mutilation.
Cross-border FGM is still poorly documented and difficult to identify, in part because of its clandestine nature.
This discussion and the two webinars which were organized addressed the psychological consequences of FGM and presented the current services available to affected women and girls. While it is possible to identify psychological consequences directly linked to FGM, it is crucial to understand this event in a women’s life journey and within the broader social, cultural and economic context which have an influence on mental well-being.
There is still much to be done to enhance the psychological support offered to women and girls affected by FGM and to provide them with the support they need.
In this webinar the speakers will present their projects and programmes aiming to involve men and boys in the work against FGM. We will address the main opportunities and challenges of male involvement as a strategy to bring about the gender transformative change that is so urgently needed.
The CoP on FGM and its members participated in the NGOCWS65 Forum which took place in parallel with the 65th Commission on the Status of Women, between March 14th and March 26th 2021. This year, because of the sanitary crisis, the CSW and the NGOCSW Forum took place in a hybrid form with virtual meetings.
Are you an anti-FGM activist who likes to write? Do you want to contribute to existing knowledge and understanding on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), amplify stories from your community and bring about change through your words? The Community of Practice on Female Genital Mutilation (CoP-FGM) is looking for you!
Doctors, sociologists, anthropologists, lawyers, scientifics, social workers, psychologists, project managers… Who are the members of the CoP FGM?
“The Community of Practice on Female Genital Mutilation” is part of the “Building Bridges between Africa and Europe to tackle FGM” project, supported by the “UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM”.
The project is coordinated by AIDOS in partnership with GAMS Belgium.
The views expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the UNFPA, UNICEF or any other agency or organization.
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