In 2020, on top of other ongoing humanitarian crises, most countries in the world faced an emergency situation due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global nature of the crisis tragically demonstrated that any country can rapidly fall into a state of emergency, including those not typically used to experiencing such situations. In response to the pandemic, governments imposed measures for the general population such as social distancing, limited movements, curfews, school closures – which, on the one hand helped contain the spread of the virus, but on the other, placed girls and women at a higher risk of being subjected to GBV overall, and FGM in particular (see UN Women, 2020). The COVID pandemic shed light on the unpreparedness of anti-FGM actors and stakeholders, mostly unaccustomed to working in crises. As a result, UNICEF estimates that 2 million more girls will undergo FGM by 2030 because of COVID-19 related programme disruption.

Unfortunately, FGM is still considered a secondary issue in situations of emergency, since working on its abandonment and supporting survivors entails a long-term process of awareness-raising, behavioural change, prevention and care, which does not fit in the rapid response strategy shaping the work in emergency settings. 

In terms of humanitarian aid, Gender-based violence (GBV) in general remains a hugely underfunded area in comparison to other sectors, with funding not matching the scale of the problem. In fact, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, GBV funding accounted for merely 0.12% of all humanitarian assistance – representing only one third of funding requests for GBV (International Rescue Committee, 2019). The under-prioritization of FGM in humanitarian/crisis contexts and the already limited GBV funds explain that very little funding is available for FGM prevention and care in these contexts.