First, we wanted to share some exciting developments for the End FGM EU Secretariat, as in April we were joined by three new trainees! Our new programmes and events assistant, Anna Van Der Heyden, our new Policy and Advocacy assistant Nejma Sayeh, and our new Communications assistant Charoula (Chara) Papastefanaki. Click on their names to access their bios.

Then, another happy news from the Secretariat is that our Network Director Anna Widegren is expecting a baby in the next few weeks and is thus going on maternity leave until January 2023. We wish Anna a wonderful end of her pregnancy and the best for her first months with the baby!

Following this news, we also have the pleasure to introduce our latest addition to the Secretariat: Emilie Jarrett who will be our interim Director covering Anna's maternity leave. Emilie joined us in mid-June and already met most of our members at the Network General Assembly. Find her bio here. 

On the 21st of June 2022, we welcomed our End FGM EU Members and Ambassadors in Brussels for our General Assembly.

Following our General Assembly, we have two new Member organisations joining our Network, which makes us 34 members strong! Welcome Les Orchidées Rouges (France, full member) and Plan International Deutschland e.V. (Germany, associate member)! Click on their names for their websites.

Our General Assembly was also the occasion to say a big thank you to our board members who finished their mandates: Valentina Fanelli and Toks Okeniyi. We also voted in 3 new members: Aminata Bah, Cynthia Karanja and Sonja Störmer who are joining Hayat Traspas and Sonia Duarte Lopes as part of our new Board.

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? Research!

During our campaign we tried to share the message that seeking knowledge about FGM and the situation in Europe and globally is an essential part of efficiently addressing the practice. Research allows us to draw a complete and accurate picture of the issue: Where does it happen? In what context? Why is it still happening? Whom does it affect?

What is #BehindEndingFGM? Supporting Survivors!

We also tried to highlight that ending FGM is not only about preventing it, but also about dealing with the consequences of the practice. FGM Survivors have various needs that are not just physical, but also psychological, emotional, social, sexual and spiritual. Providing holistic care that responds to all these needs and aims to heal a person as a whole is crucial.

Look back at everything we have achieved with your support last year. 2021 was a challenging year but it was also a rewarding one for the Network thanks to the hard work of our Members, Ambassadors and partners. Watch the video above or read the pdf version below and (re)discover what it means to be working to end FGM in Europe and beyond!

The Mind the Gap partners, End FGM EU, Aidos (Italy), APF (Portugal) and Medicos Del Mundo (Spain) got together in Madrid, on the 19th and 20th of May, for our project coordination meeting. We discussed the many achievements and last steps of the 2-year project, including our upcoming EU final conference on the 16th of November 2022! Keep an eye on our social media to get the registration link.

During the past few months, the Advocacy team has been working closely in cooperation with DG JUST Gender Equality Unit to ensure the inclusion of our knowledge, promising practices and recommendations on ending  FGM within the upcoming Recommendation on the Prevention of Harmful Practices.

With the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C, we have compiled a report on the progress made to eliminate FGM globally. This report represents a joint effort across our respective organisations and regional networks to combine our global expertise, knowledge and partnerships to support efforts to end FGM/C by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We will be hosting, together with all our partners within the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C, a webinar on FGM and Climate Change. Date: September, to be confirmed. Follow the Global Platform on Twitter to be updated!

The European Week of Action for Girls (EWAG) is a week-long programme of events and activities happening around the International Day of the Girl Child (11 October). We are proud to announce that the End FGM European Network will be one of the partner organisations again this year and will join in celebrating the 10th anniversary of EWAG!

From interviews on the pandemic's impact on FGM to giving presentations on men's involvement in the fight against FGM, our Ambassadors have been very active recently! 

On the 12th of May 2022, the CHAIN project Partners, the End FGM European Network, ActionAid International Italia Onus, Equipop, TERRE DES FEMMES, Save a Girl, Save a Generation celebrated the 2-year CHAIN project coming to an end. A hybrid international conference was hosted with the participation of EU Commissioner Helena Dalli, MEP Evin Incir and MEP Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana. The CHAIN project has worked on linking the prevention of FGM and early and forced marriage (EFM) in Europe, by focusing on strengthening the prevention, protection, and support for survivors of gender-based violence through capacity building, community empowerment and awareness-raising, while also giving a voice to community concerns and needs at the political level.

On the 16th of June, for the International Day of the African child, our Coordinator of Programmes Isma Benboulerbah was invited to the World Bank event sponsored by the Legal Vice Presidency, the Empowering Women by Balancing the Law Initiative, and the GFLJD FGM/C Legal Working Group to discuss the involvement of young people and communities in the work against FGM. Isma shared our expertise in engaging youth and communities and talked about the necessity to adapt to their needs and their volunteering experiences in order to achieve SDG5.3 which focuses on the elimination of harmful practices. She promoted the Position Paper on Community Engagement and the Youth Manifesto developed by communities and youth, for them.

On the 31st of May, through our Member Action Aid Sweden, we were invited by the Swedish Agency for Gender Equality to hold a session during one of their Coordination Meetings, specifically dedicated to FGM. On this occasion, our Director introduced the work of the Network and the Policy and Advocacy Coordinator presented promising practices identified at the European level for prevention and protection of FGM, while also mentioning the main challenges faced by the sector at the EU level. The audience was composed of representatives from different national authorities as well as of a few civil society organisations and experts.  

On the 22nd of June and right after the General Assembly, our Knowledge Sharing Event for 2022 took place in Brussels. It was an exciting moment for our Network, our Members and our Ambassadors and a great opportunity for learning from one another and sharing ideas, knowledge and expertise on FGM and gender-based violence!

On the 16th of May, Pharos organised a webinar on FGM and sexuality, where three speakers, a clinical psychologist, a sexologist and a journalist that is also a FGM Survivor were invited to discuss the consequences of FGM on the sexuality of women. The webinar is also available on Pharos’ YouTube channel!

In 2022 and after 15 years of intense campaigning by WADI, Halabja and Garmyan were declared free of FGM! Wadi lobbied since 2004 on a local and international level to put the spotlight on FGM in Northern Iraq with its "STOP FGM Kurdistan" campaign.

The campaign “Do the human right thing” was designed by the Diotima Center and gives rise to refugees and asylum seekers voices to be heard louder themselves. With the motto #SpreadOurVoice everyone is invited to take action, defend the fundamental rights of the people on the move and raise their voices for their effective application to all people.

GAMS Belgium is launching its awareness campaign to prevent female genital mutilation when returning to the homeland as part of their associative project, the FGM collective, in partnership with AWSA-be, Oasis Belgium and the family planning center of Liège, with the common objective to reach out to a maximum number of people affected by female genital mutilation.

During the first half 2022, AIDOS has been very active: from contributing to End FGM EU’s online consultation on “How to improve financing of the anti-FGM sector in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic?” to providing inputs for the UN Secretary General Progress Report on FGM/C prepared by the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C and to organizing numerous activities and trainings in the framework of the project “Mind the Gap”.

FORWARD recently partnered with the Gambia-based Think Young Women to implement their TuWezeshe Young Women’s Leadership Programme under the UN-EU Spotlight Initiative, that provided young Gambian feminists the opportunity to undergo leadership training and design a social action project (SAP). Two Fellows used a music video to implement their SAP that was released during Women’s History Month 2022.

Save a Girl Save a Generation’s first project in Kenya “Safe in Nairobi” consists of a temporary shelter for women in emergency due to gender-based violence with a focus on Survivors of FGM and forced marriages. “Safe in Nairobi” is a safe space that offers not only accommodation, goods, basic needs, and the assistance of a house manager and a social worker to Survivors, but also relief and an opportunity to heal while looking for alternatives to start a new life away from violence.  

UNAF has organised their XI Conference against FGM focusing on the diverse methodologies and standpoints when working on the intervention with Survivors, their families and communities. At the same time, UNAF continues offering integral attention to FGM survivors and their families in the area of Madrid and will continue doing so by fostering the specialized intercultural mediation service it offers.

On the 21st of May, TERRE DES FEMMES welcomed in Berlin 27 Community Trainers and the project workers from the CHAIN partner organisations ActionAid Italia (Italy), Save a Girl Save a Generation (Spain) and Equipop (France) for a meeting aiming to building sustainable links between the activists from communities affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) and early and forced marriage (EFM) in different countries.

The Equality Now Feminist Culture Club 2022 offers a number of great recommendations on books, movies, TV shows and podcasts related to feminism and the promotion of women's rights!

On the 1st of July at 4 pm (UTC), Sahiyo is offering a webinar on "Understanding Social Norms to End Female Genital Cutting", that will further explore FGM/C as a social norm and will investigate the tension between community social norms and the advocacy that occurs around ending FGM/C.