The End FGM European Network Secretariat has a new team member: Marc! He just moved from Spain to Belgium to become our new Advocacy Assistant. He will be working to support our advocacy work to end FGM and support survivors.

Read his bio to learn more about him. 

On Friday 5th of February 2021, we hosted a Webinar titled “Addressing FGM while leaving no one behind.” This event launched the 2021 Annual Campaign of the Network “#EndFGM4All, FGM and Intersectionality." Click HERE to read about the Campaign.

The #EndFGM4All Campaign will run until December 2021 and will explore nine monthly themes related to the intersectionality of FGM.

Our 2021 Campaign is all about...Female Genital Mutilation & Intersectionality! Ethnicity, religion, sexuality, education... our identities can influence our access to resources and healthcare and sometimes can expose us to additional discrimination and violence. In February, we published a Brochure explaining how Intersectionality is relevant to our work.

In March, we explored our first monthly theme: FGM & Racism. To conclude the month, we published a new infographic in collaboration with the European Network Against Racism. Read it to learn about:
- How Racist discrimination impacts access to health & resources;
- What activists have to say about the link between FGM & Racism.

Before we dove into our 2021 Annual Campaign, we looked back at our 2020 Campaign  #EndFGMmyths and at everything we learned throughout the months.
Check out our animated video going over some of the most important myths to debunk around Female Genital Mutilation!

We published our Position Paper on Community Engagement to end FGM. This paper, developed with our Members, outlines the critical role of community engagement in tackling female genital mutilation (FGM) within Europe.

End FGM EU was part of the EU Delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women which took place in March. Also, along with partners of the Global Platform for Action to end FGM/C, we hosted a CSW65 side event on partnerships to end FGM.

Our Ambassadors have been busy these past months, taking part in international events and in End FGM EU's activities.

The EU has launched its first Strategy on the Rights of the Child. The End FGM European Network is very pleased to see that preventing harmful practices, among which FGM, is prioritised when looking at protecting children from violence within the European Union. 

On the occasion of the Generation Equality Mexico Forum (29-31 March), End FGM EU together with our partners of the Global Platform for Action to end FGM/C has launched our key recommendations in light of the priorities put forward by the leaders of the Action Coalitions on Gender-Based Violence and on Bodily Autonomy & Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. 

Mind the Gap is a project funded by the EU that we are a part of, along with our Members Aidos (Italy), APF (Portugal) and Medicos del Mundo (Spain). The project intends to raise awareness of school professionals and other non-formal educators, students, children and parents on how gender bias/roles impact the education, work and life choices of girls and boys.

In February, we have addressed our letter with recommendations to the Portuguese Presidency. End FGM EU recommendations include listening to the voices of women with heightened vulnerability, civil society, grassroots and women's organisations and enhancing cross-border cooperation for the prevention of FGM.

End FGM EU is partnering with IPPF for a new project coming soon! The project "Sharing innovations from the Covid-19 crisis to improve sexuality education access online" will focus on reaching out to marginalised and underserved young people and ensure that they access comprehensive sexual education (CSE) information AND information on fighting GBV and FGM. 

In March, our Member Save a Girl Save a Generation published a powerful video interview between Asha Ismail and Dr Renée Bergstrom, both FGM Survivors.

On January 19, 2021, the first meeting of the temporary working group on prevention and intervention in cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) and early/forced marriage (EFM) took place in Berlin. TERRE DES FEMMES initiated this working group within the framework of the EU project "CHAIN" which End FGM EU is a partner in.  

On the occasion of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, Lessan's chairwomen, Gwladys Awo, presented the letter of protection against FGM/C at a press conference together with the German Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Franziska Giffey.

On the occasion of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, GAMS Belgium organised a webinar to shed light on the stories of the women affected. Panellists addressed the legal, medical and sexological aspects of female genital mutilation, as well as the political gaps regarding prevention, support and protection of people affected in Belgium. 

Aidos worked hard these past three months: they launched animated videos on Social norms, they organised a CSW65 side-event and they kicked-off Mind The Gap, an EU-funded project End FGM EU is also involved in.

The Finnish League for Human Rights is busy gathering information on the fulfilment by healthcare professionals of their responsibility to bring up FGM with patients. They are also organising training on FGM for volunteers and collaborators.

As part of #CSW65, Orchid Project and the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) brought together a number of renowned activists, researchers, and survivors from across the Asia region for a virtual event titled “FGM/C is Our Issue Too: Voices from Asia”.  The event also served as a platform for the two partners to introduce the Asia Network to End FGM/C—a collaborative group of civil society actors working to end all forms of the practice across Asia. 

End FGM EU was invited on 13 February, around the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, to deliver the closing remarks at the International Congress on Female Genital Mutilation organized by our member Médicos del Mundo.

End FGM EU delivered an expert training, together with the European Women’s Lobby, to staff from Action Aid and other organisations in Italy around European advocacy on the EU Multiannual Financial Framework and how to have an impact on the EU institutions while working on gender equality and eliminating gender-based violence, particularly looking at how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Coordinator of Programmes was interviewed in French for Ma Vie Citoyenne.  

She discussed the importance of involving young people, young women activists and People of Colour to end FGM and promote a safer world for all. Isma insisted on our commitment to using non-offensive narratives when discussing GBV and FGM .

On 19-20 May 2021, Victim Support Europe is hosting their annual conference. This year's edition will focus on 'Tranforming Victim Support: from Dream to Reality'.

"Power of the Streets is a podcast about how we speak truth to power. In a series of intimate interviews, host Audrey Kawire Wabwire brings us the achievements and stories of the young people driving Africa’s human rights movement."