Towards the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation

The NPWJ approach

The activities carried out by No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) are part of a growing international effort for the abandonment of the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)(1). The contribution of NPWJ to this endeavour aims in particular at fostering and strengthening the joint commitment of governments and civil society to eradicate the practice, particularly through political action and the adoption of increasingly effective legal measures. We developed our strategy to help combat this practice acknowledging that the law is only one part of a broader approach towards the abandonment of FGM that must be accompanied by a wide range of other measures designed to address the underlying conditions that allow FGM to continue. This policy derives from our belief that solutions lie in taking a two-pronged approach: bottom up from the grassroots, and top down from Government and lawmakers.

The FGM Education Programme is a small community based programme set up in response to the rising number of women settling in New Zealand from countries that practice FGM.

The objectives of the Programme are to provide improved reproductive health care services for women affected by FGM through provider training and support, and to prevent the occurrence of FGM in New Zealand through community education and health promotion.

The key Programme activities include:

• The provision of FGM community education

• The development of FGM education resources for communities

• The development of FGM education resources for health and child protection professionals

• The provision of training and support for health professionals working with women affected by FGM

• The provision of training and information for midwifery, medical and nursing students

• FGM technical assistance and support for health and child protection professionals

• The development of FGM guidelines and protocols

For more information on FGM training and education, please email info@fgm.co.nz

Contact:

FGM Education Programme

PO Box 99350

Newmarket

Auckland

New Zealand

Phone +64 9 302 4031

Fax +64 9 302 4037

Email info@fgm.co.nz

Abstract:

Comparative reports are descriptive in their approach, contrasting findings from many countries to search for trends and patterns in important health and population indicators. The reports serve largely as reference documents and typically draw on all available DHS (and sometimes other) data collected over a recent time period.

Authors: P. Stanley Yoder and Noureddine Abderrahim and Arlinda Zhuzhuni

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EDITOR NOTE:

You can also order a free hardcopy from DHS of this report.

TARGET is Rüdiger Nehberg's human rights organisation which was founded in 2000 by seven people. TARGET's strength are focussed campaigns for human rights. Its main purpose is the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Another, smaller purpose is to support the Waiapí Indians in the Brazilian rain forest.

TARGET is controlled by German tax authorities, a lawyer and a certified tax consultant.

TARGET has access to a team of highly qualified advisors: Women and men who work for the Central Council of the Muslims (Zentralrat der Muslime), the Department of State, German embassies in Africa, German Orient Institute in Hamburg as well as people working for medical institutions.

TARGET is financed exclusively by donations.

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EDITOR NOTE: The site is translated into German, English, Arabic, and French.

Sini Sanuman is a Malian NGO working against FGM through a signature campaign, the Pledge Against Excision, and through the arts. We have had music videos by famous Malian artists on television in West Africa for a few years.

Training material for nurses, midwives, teachers and students about the effects of FGM. Includes overviews, prevalence rates, declarations and statements.

Rainbo was started in 1994 by a group of African immigrants in USA in order to impact on U.S. private and government funding in Africa and the United Nations. Rainbo is an African led international non-governmental organisation working on issues of women's empowerment, gender, reproductive health, sexual autonomy and freedom from violence as central components of the African development agenda.

Now based in London, Rainbo’s work is aimed at influencing European development assistance to Africa whilst taking advantage of the closer proximity to Africa. Rainbo is a Northern organisation focusing solely on Africa and led by African women.

We have profound knowledge of sexual & reproductive health and rights that is grounded in the realities of Africa. Rainbo specifically strives to enhance global efforts to eliminate the practice of Female Circumcision / Female Genital Mutilation (FC/FGM) through facilitating women's self-empowerment and accelerating social change.

PATH is an international, nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, we help provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act.

Dedicated to making a safer world, NOCIRC is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization committed milos.jpg (10748 bytes) to securing the birthright of male, female, and intersex children and babies to keep their sex organs intact.

NOCIRC provides educational material about the structures, functions, development, and care of normal penile anatomy and offers information about circumcision and the care of the circumcised as well as the intact penis. NOCIRC suggests that circumcision be performed only when it is absolutely medically necessary, after all non-invasive therapies have failed, or when an adult gives consent, after he has been fully informed about the risks and harm of the surgery. NOCIRC's position is based on the fact that not one national or international medical association in the world—including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association—recommends routine infant circumcision and now, recognizing the harm and life-long consequences, some are recommending against it.

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.

AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

In pursuit of this vision, AI’s mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.