Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Somalia

From the Executive Summary

This [135-page] assessment is aimed at guiding the World Bank, UNFPA and their partners in current and future anti-FGM/FGC initiatives. Programmatic and policy issues which emerged during the assessment are reflected in the relevant sections of the report. The following are key issues and recommendations:

Issue I. FGM/FGC eradication activities are mostly short term, small scale, and ad hoc in nature.

• Recommendation 1: International donors need to raise funds for supporting projects, which last five years and above. They should also be committed to releasing funds annually to guarantee satisfactory performance ratings.
• Recommendation 2: International donors should develop a joint strategic framework for FGM/FGC eradication. They should support components of the program, which cover all successful aspects of anti-FGM/FGC foundations.
• This may require donor meetings to develop a framework, targeting the use of current resources, roles, responsibilities as well fundraising and program strategies.
• Recommendation 3: International donors need to continue their coordination efforts at the global level while improving local coordination and sharing of resources.

Issue II. Despite significant interest and action against FGM/FGC among the Somali NGOs, networks and volunteers, there is limited technical capability in the design, implementation and evaluation of anti-FGM/FGC programs.

• Recommendation 1: International donor agencies should develop and implement a capacity-building plan for staff and volunteers of women’s and youth organizations involved in FGM/FGC eradication programs. This plan should include areas such as strategies and lessons learnt, behaviour change, communication, advocacy, skills and participatory facilitation techniques.
• Recommendation 2: International-funding agencies should expose Somali activists – men, women and youth – to current literature and best practices in global anti-FGM/FGC initiatives. They should also fund study tours to successful programs such as the Tostan project in Senegal and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization’s project in Kenya. Somali religious leaders should join the tours to meet with their global peers and scholars opposed to FGM/FGC. They should visit Muslim countries that do not practice FGM/FGC. This will enhance an understanding that FGM/FGC is not an Islamic requirement.
• Recommendation 3: Anti-FGM/FGC activist organizations should organize consensus-building meetings for their own staff, volunteers, consultants and medical doctors to discuss key messages related to FGM/FGC eradication in their programs. Similar meetings are essential for members of the umbrella networks to unify the voices of change.
• Recommendation 4: In order to bring about credible change in communities and influence staff and volunteers, NGO leaders and activists should not circumcise their own daughters.
• Recommendation 5: Anti-FGM implementers should weigh the options of whether to link or de-link FGM and HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness-raising programs. This is because it is a challenge for the reproductive health program to advocate for stopping of circumcision on one side and then to promote condom use for HIV and AIDS prevention when the two issues play upon the community’s underlying fears about alleged uncontrolled sexuality. Additionally, both issues need innovative strategies and in-depth attention which can be hampered by pushing them together as is currently being reported in the field.

The contents of this study include:

• Introduction
• Background
• Justification
• The Assessment: Purpose and Objective
• The World Bank in Somalia
• UNFPAin Somalia
• Assessment Methodology and Process
• Structure of the Report
• Limitations of the Assessment
• Background on FGM/FGC in the Somali Context
• Brief Background on FGM/FGC in Africa and in the Somali context
• Case Studies of Community-Based Behaviour:
• Change Interventions and Lessons Learnt
• Assessment Findings
• Positive Responses from International Partners and Civil Society Organizations
• Responses from Regional Authorities
• Responses from Communities
• Lessons Learnt and Best Practices
• FGM/FGC Elimination in Somalia: Opportunities and Constraints
• Key Issues and Recommendations
• Responses from International Partners and Civil Society Organizations
• Responses from Regional Authorities
• Responses from Communities
• Examining Projects: Lessons Learnt and Best Practices
• Opportunities and Constraints for Reengagement on FGM/FGC Elimination in Somalia