First, we want to thank our fantastic Programmes and Events Assistant Anna Van Der Heyden, who has been with us for 6 months and is leaving us for new adventures. We wish her all the best in her new endeavours, and we thank her for everything she has brought to End FGM EU in the time she was with us.

The Secretariat is also going to be welcoming two new European Solidarity Corps Volunteers starting in November. We are excited to have two young people join us to work primarily on the Understanding Community Voices project!

In 2022, the End FGM European Network explores the question: "How do we end FGM?"

We often use the phrase “we work to end FGM”, but what do we actually need to effectively address the practice in Europe and beyond? 

From advocacy to awareness-raising and from research to holistic support services, this year we want to share precious knowledge and present all the essential components in our efforts #BehindEndingFGM!

What is #BehindEndingFGM? Education!

During our campaign we tried to share the message that raising awareness over FGM as a harmful practice, its different types and its consequences that include several human rights violations are essential to put an end to it and respond adequately to FGM Survivors’ needs!

Advocacy is another critical component in the work #BehindEndingFGM! But what does advocacy actually mean? How is an advocacy strategy developed? How can we bring effective change and who can help us?

During our campaign we produced the infographic “What is Advocacy & 6 Questions to build your Advocacy power” to answer these questions.

This year International Day of the Girl Child is approaching and we are delighted to announce that the European Week of Action for Girls (EWAG) is back!
EWAG turns 10 and its Young Advocates are ready to come to Brussels: Between 10-15 October a series of events and meetings  will bring them together to make sure that their voices are heard by EU decision-makers!

With our partners of the Mind the Gap Project, AIDOS (Italy), APF (Portugal) and Medicos Del Mundo (Spain), we are holding an international advocacy conference in Brussels and online on the 16th of November 2022, 15h. The event will present the work that was carried out through Mind the Gap as well as the challenges of bringing gender equality to schools and will see the participation of partners, experts and policymakers.

Do you want to learn more about FGM laws, policies, services and data across Europe? 
In 2021, the End FGM EU has launched an Interactive Map as a source of information for the areas above, but also as a well of inspiration to continue to improve the work to end FGM and our support of FGM Survivors!
As we keep on updating this map with new data, we aim to encourage mutual learning and cooperation towards ending FGM for All in Europe and beyond.

On September 22nd and 29th, End FGM EU’s Members and Secretariat participated in two Focus Groups Discussions (FDG) online in the scope of the new Strategic Plan 2023-2027. 

Feeding on all collected inputs from Members and Secretariat the consultants are now in the final drafting session of End FGM EU’s new Strategic Plan. Stay tuned for more info! 

Take a look at some policy and advocacy news and achievements of our Network: from submitting a GREVIO joint shadow report on Greece to keeping FGM high on the global agenda!

Through the CHAIN project, four "intervention chains in cases of Female Genital Mutilation and Early and Forced Marriage" were developed for Berlin, Madrid, Milan and Paris

A brochure for Berlin was developed and is available in English, it contains a local intervention model with guidelines for action for key professionals who may come into contact with those at risk and affected in their everyday work. 

In recognition of the importance of tackling medicalised FGM and other related medical practices carried out within Europe, the End FGM EU has produced a paper on FGM & Medicalisation, that will be published soon.
STAY TUNED and till then...

We will soon be publishing the result of our work with our FGM and Intersectionality working group on the intersection of FGM and Racism. This is the first of a series of position papers on the overlapping issues that affect our work towards ending FGM. We have just started the second phase of our working group: FGM and religious discrimination. Stay tuned to read our FGM and Racism paper coming out this month!

Our amazing Ambassadors gathered in Brussels for a very productive

Intergenerational Ambassadors Training!
From sessions on effective communication and advocacy to other learning activities, our Ambassadors gathered fresh knowledge and inspiration, exchanged ideas and opinions and proved their significant role for our Network once more!
Read more and take a look at other things our Senior and Youth Ambassadors have been up to the past few months!

The Global Platform for Action to end FGM/C, which End FGM EU is a part of, organised an event on FGM and Climate Change titled "An Emergency Within an Emergency: The Crises of Climate Change and Female Genital Cutting." The event explored the impact of climate change on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). 

The EWAG Young Advocates including our two Youth Ambassadors, Leah and Amal have already participated in 2 productive online capacity-building sessions to ensure a strong and meaningful participation during EWAG!
In these sessions, they learnt more about the powerful role of communications and advocacy in the fight for girls' rights and they were introduced to the EU organisations and mechanisms.

On 6th of October, our Co-President Aminata Bah participated in the Terre des Femmes event launching their "dark figure estimation" regarding FGM affected people in Germany. She talked about the importance of data collection on FGM and shared some good practices from our mapping (available on our Interactive Map).

Our Austrian partner FEM Sud invited the Network to take part in the Austrian FGM coordination kick-off event. 
The Federal Chancellery and several relevant Ministries were represented at the event, which took place in a hybrid format from Vienna. The Policy and Advocacy Coordinator and the Interim Director were grateful to have this opportunity to present the work of the Network together with some of best practices identified in tackling FGM in Europe as well as the challenges faced.

The Network and its members are actively involved in the negotiation process of the proposed Directive on violence against women and domestic violence. 

"FGM is an African issue", "In Europe, we don't do that to girls" or "FGM is women's business": do all these sound familiar? Published by GAMS Belgium, this guide aims at breaking down common myths and misconceptions existing about FGM.
We believe that a better understanding of FGM is vital in providing quality services to those affected!

The Network against Female Genital Cutting Switzerland has launched an e-learning platform on FGM that provides valuable information and offers concrete recommendations for dealing with the issue.

MIGS has launched the FEM-United campaign that aims to raise awareness among front-line professionals, policy makers, and the general public on the prevention of intimate partner femicide and to enable citizens to call on governments, politicians and state institutions to take action. 

MIGS is also implementing a project to foster critical and creative use of social media amongst young people to fight gender-based stereotypes, discrimination and sexist hate speech. 

Plan International Deutschland has identified a need for easy-to-read information for FGM Survivors and girls and women at risk of FGM and this is the reason why they produced an educational handbook on FGM to fill that gap! 

Since June 2022, Les Orchidées Rouges have organised speaking groups in the capital of France for Survivors of FGM. These collective times allow their beneficiaries in Île-de-France, the region most affected by FGM in France, to get out of isolation, restore their self-esteem and pull each other up.

LESSAN's project "Men Standing-up for Gender Equality - Amplifying Change" that is funded by the EU has developed very successfully with large and meaningful participation in their trainings. 

The National FGM Centre in partnership with the Eve Appeal – a leading Gynae charity – has developed lesson plans for schools focusing on FGM and Gynae health as part of the ‘Know Your Body’ series. The lesson plans take a health and rights-based approach to teaching FGM and follow a spiral curriculum. Lesson plans have been designed so that any teacher can pick them up and deliver to their class, regardless of their background or training.

In July, AIDOS started a new project on gender transformative approaches to ending female genital mutilations funded by the UNFPA / UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation and Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls and implemented in partnership with GAMS Belgium.

ActionAid Sweden will soon release a handbook that will conclude its 3-year project of implementation of circles for FGM survivors. These circles were designed to discuss the practice and share personal stories in a safe place and were carried out by their national program team since January 2020.

Starting from February 2022, GAMS Belgium and the Concerted Strategies for Fighting FGM have been hosting several online workshops for professionals in contact with families affected by FGM in Belgium.

Hosted by Equality Now, Ibrahima Media Centre, and the Association of Egyptian Female Lawyers, this event will bring together stakeholders to discuss addressing FGM in Egypt by linking legal advocacy, litigation, service provision, and other interconnected harmful practices.

The Digital Freedom Fund and its partner European Digital Rights (EDRi) started a reflection on the ways in which uneven power dynamics, exclusion, and privilege play out in the digital rights field, including how these shape how these rights are conceived and protected. They are in the second phase of an initiative that emerged to decolonise the digital rights field.