First, we want to express our gratitude to the two interns who have left the End FGM EU Secretariat over the last months: Chara Papastefanaki (Communication Assistant) and Nejma Sayeh (Policy and Advocacy Assistant). We thank them for lending us their fantastic energy and creativity for the 6 months of their traineeship, and we wish them all the best for their next adventures. 

Then, we want to welcome our new ESC Volunteers! Amal Hussein (Programmes) and Nina Medan (Communications) will be with us for a whole year and will be working together on our Understanding Community Voices project phase 2. Click on their names for their bios. 

Last week, on the 7th of December 2022, we held an extraordinary general assembly online for our members. The main topics on the agenda were the approval of new members and the adoption of our Strategic Priorities for 2023-2027! Good news all around as members have voted in favour of Fem Sud (Austria), the African Women Organisation (Austria) and Kone (Germany) joining our Network (making Austria our 16th country where we have members!); and have adopted the Strategic Priorities for the next 5 years (keep an eye out for when we publish them in 2023). 

This online General Assembly was also an opportunity to present our capacity-building program to all our members, an opportunity to strengthen their organisations and exchange skills to build each other up. We also introduced our new monthly members' forums, an informal online Rendez-Vous to connect and update each other. 

December marks the end of our Annual Campaign for 2022 which focused this year on the work happening #BehindEndingFGM. To close this successful campaign involving our members showcasing their work, we have created a video explaining our vision on how to eliminate the practice sustainably. Click the thumbnail above to learn how to end FGM!

Read about all the activities in which our ambassadors have been involved before the end of the year. Since the inception of our Senior & Youth Ambassador programmes, End FGM EU has been constantly working on expanding the number of participants and giving more space to new voices.

Our online interactive map is the first ever interactive online resource compiling information on laws, policies and data across European countries on FGM. It now covers 15 countries in total with the recent addition of Malta to our mapping! 

We will be holding monthly online forums for members with the aim of providing an informal space for them to meet regularly, connect and share updates, resources, and accomplishments while also fostering collective discussions on different topics.  

On 11th October, the European Week of Actions for Girls (EWAG) kicked-off in Brussels. During this week, activities were organised around the advocacy agenda “10 in 10: The world through the eyes of a girl”.

On the 8th & 9th of September 2022, End FGM EU participated in the Mind the Gap Project Coordination meeting organised in Lisbon, Portugal. 

To end FGM, it is crucial to understand the beliefs about medicalisation and the context around it. End FGM EU strongly opposes this procedure, and our new paper aims to dismantle the myths related to it. 

How can we place the efforts to end FGM at the intersection of culture, identity, gender, race and migration? We answer all these questions and more in our position paper on FGM and anti-racism.

This year's campaign to celebrate #16DaysofActivism was focused on Understanding Community Voices. We published a series of posts meant to highlight the stories, beliefs and achievements of anti-FGM community activists in Europe. 

This November 25th, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we shared a video that honours Multi-Survivors. Gender-based violence requires all of us to come together against all forms of patriarchal violence.

Our Policy & Advocacy Coordinator Xheni Dani participated in the Donors Working Group Meeting in Luxembourg on 13 December 2022 continuing the conversation around innovative financing mechanisms to eliminate FGM and presenting the recommendations of civil society organisations based on the results of previous discussions with Members of the Network and of the Community of Practice on FGM.

Our Co-President Aminata Bah took part in a delegation meeting of the GiZ FGM-Prevention Programme where she presented the work of the Network to colleagues working to eliminate FGM in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan).

The toolkit for Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) is out and ready to grab! The YSAFE & IPPF project “New Guidance on Online Sexuality Education” was put together with the challenges of the post-COVID world in mind. It offers a wide array of tools for educators to use in their activities.  

On December 6th, End FGM EU attended the 

European Economic and Social Committee's Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law hearing. Director Emilie Jarrett and Youth Ambassador and Board Member Cynthia Karanja discussed how FGM relates to sexual reproductive health rights.

Our Policy & Advocacy Coordinator Xheni Dani spoke at the UNFPA-UNICEF joint platform to end FGM and FabAfriq panel discussion on "Accelerating Investment to end FGM." She presented the work that 

the Network carries out at the EU level to eliminate FGM.

FGM & Disability are sensitive topics that are often overlooked and misunderstood. FGM survivors with disabilities are less likely to have their rights and needs advocated for & protected. Our resource, in collaboration with the European Disability Forum, explains how we can provide for people at the intersection of FGM & Disability.

From the 14 to the 18 of November, our Italian member AIDOS held training sessions in Dakar (Senegal) on Gender Transformative Approaches (GTAs) to ending female genital mutilation.

The online role game is the outcome of the project “Men Standing-up for Gender Equality – Amplifying Change” coordinated by our members LESSAN e. V. in Germany and FEA in France with partner Himilo in the Netherlands.

On 25th of November, our member FLHR organised a seminar to reminisce on what the organisation has done in the past 20 years and what more needs to be done in Finland to protect girls and women's rights.  

Dr. Ramin Kawous, researcher at Pharos, obtained his doctorate from the Erasmus University in the Netherlands on 10th November with his dissertation on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the Netherlands. His research found that Women who have undergone FGM/C had difficulty discussing FGM/C with their medical practitioner.

On November 29th, AkiDwA launched the 3rd Edition of the FGM Handbook for Healthcare Professionals at Rotunda Hospital in collaboration with the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit.

Safe From Harm is an IPPF EN campaign to raise awareness of the policy measures that we want to see prioritised in the fight against gender-based violence in the European Union, with a focus on the legal and cultural factors necessary to realise people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Each year, a different city will be designated as the European Capital of Democracy annually by a diverse jury of 10,000 European citizens. Applications are open for all European citizens to join the Citizens' Jury, which will serve as a unique sounding board and network for social issues.