DECLARATION
FGM Seminar, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
January 16-18, 2011
WE the 45 participants representing organizations that have a component on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in their programmes;
PARTICIPATING in a three-day FGM Seminar, January 16 to 18, 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia entitled “CREATE TO CHANGE – CHANGE TO CREATE: Building partnership for a common front against FGM” jointly organized by FOKUS, KVINNEFRONTEN (Women’s Front of Norway) and the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC);
COMMENDING the collaborative efforts of FOKUS, KVINNEFRONTEN and IAC with the support of the government of Norway;
UNDERSCORING the objectives of the FGM Seminar listed below as follows:
- To move forward the common agenda of Zero Tolerance to FGM;
- To exchange information for better understanding of the profile and work of each organization;
- To share best practices in the area of programme intervention;
- To gather information on conducting baseline survey and measuring results;
- To learn more about project management including annual reporting and financial reporting;
- To synergize activities among partners for better impact;
TAKING COGNISANCE of the fact that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a global problem that negatively affects millions of girls in Africa and the rest of the world where immigrants from practicing countries have settled;
RECOGNIZING that FGM cannot be fought in isolation, neither in Europe nor in Africa;
ENCOURAGED by the shared vision of us the participants working to see a world free from FGM;
REALIZING that FGM is internationally recognized as gender-based violence;
DISAPPOINTED by the fact that many that many governments merely pay lip service to the international and regional legal instruments that recognize FGM as a clear violation of human rights;
FIRMLY CONVINCED that FGM is a hindrance to realizing four of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), “Reduce Child Mortality”, “Improve Maternal Health”, “Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment”, “Combat HIV and AIDS”;
RECOGNIZING that FGM negatively affects development;
WELCOMING the decision to strengthen collaboration between donors and actors in the field to forge a common front against FGM;
KNOWING that changing attitudes and behaviours of FGM prevalent communities is an arduous task;
DISTURBED by the phenomenon of unethical conduct of health personnel practicing FGM;
DEEPLY CONCERNED by the changing trend of lowering the age of excision to babies and carrying out FGM secretly in order to escape legal repercussions;
FRUSTRATED by lack of implementation of the legislation against FGM in many countries;
RECOGNIZING that an integrated approach in the fight against FGM guarantees success;
MINDFUL of the dwindling resources from international donors and none from many African governments for the campaigns against FGM;
DETERMINED to face the challenges to ensure that the objective of reaching Zero Tolerance to FGM is realized;
Now therefore, declare that:
- We shall continue to build bridges between activists in Africa and in the Diaspora for effectively fighting the practice;
- We shall work together in the spirit of collaboration, cooperation and commitment and partner with governments in order to accelerate the process of ending FGM by 2015;
- We shall henceforth work systematically with community opinion leaders, traditional and religious leaders and adopt integrated approaches and participatory processes for effective interventions in order to ensure local ownership and sustainability;
- We shall mobilize and involve more men and boys in the design and implementation of our programmes;
- We shall take decisive steps to deliver extensive continuous education to community members, especially women, and mobilize the whole society to effect positive change of attitudes and practices;
- We shall continuously evaluate our efforts in order to know when to design new approaches in meeting new challenges.
We call on African governments to:
- Sign, ratify, and domesticate the African Union Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women and other relevant international human rights instruments;
- Commit significant resources to implement FGM legislations and, where there are no laws, to start the process of drafting and adopting laws against FGM;
- Regard and accept civil society organizations as partners, allies and contributors to development rather than as competitors.
Appeal to the Government of Norway:
FINALLY, we ask the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Development to educate and instruct the Norwegian ambassadors and embassies to address the issue of FGM wherever it is prevalent.