As the world marks the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), focused on supporting women and children to live a healthy and productive life, has solicited the support of stakeholders to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria.
The NGO, Hacey Health Initiative, made the appeal during its StopCut Conference held in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, while also warning those involved in the practice to desist because of its consequences.
Speaking on the conference theme: “Advancing Policy and Actions for FGM-Free Nigeria,” the Executive Director, HACEY Health Initiative, Mrs. Rhoda Robinson, noted that lots of dangers are inherent in FGM, noting that it is a harmful traditional practice that causes untold harm to a woman’s health mentally, psychologically and sexually.
Robinson disclosed that diverse medical hazards and perils could occur during the procedure, which could in turn lead to complications including contraction of uterus, inability to get pregnant, abortion of pregnancy, stillbirth and death of a pregnant woman, saying it has been resolved globally that by 2030 there must be no girl in the world that would be circumcised.
She stated: “This is a traditional practice that we need to put an end to. It is entrenched in the cultures of a lot of communities which makes it very difficult to end. And today is key to stakeholders who have been working well between the three states, Ekiti, Osun and Oyo, in implementing our project, to come together and discuss the future of ending FGM.”
The Executive Director revealed that the purpose of the conference is to assess how far the NGO had gone and what more needed to be done to end FGM, saying part of the activities is to launch a research carried out by the NGO, through the StopCut Project, to end Female Genital Mutilation in the Nigerian Southwest states of Oyo, Ekiti and Osun.
She noted: “Osun State has recorded a decrease in FGM. With this, we are moving towards the progress but there is still a long way to go especially in passing the information to communities.”
At the event, the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Tunde Ladipo, stated that Oyo State, compared to other Southwest states, had the largest population, which made it difficult to drive home the call for an end to FGM.
Ladipo said: “From the report that is coming in, quite a lot has been done. We have been a bit more ahead of other states but we have to understand that Oyo State, compared to other Southwest states has the largest population except Lagos State. With that you will understand that a lot more are going on behind the scenes that we need to put more efforts towards getting the better out of it.”
The conference, which had both onsite and online accesses, featured two panel discussions on Adopting Laws and Policies to End FGM by 2030 and Unleashing the Power of Stories in Promoting Community Action to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
In 2020, the HACEY Health Initiative commenced the StopCut Project in 3 of the Nigerian Southwest states that have the highest prevalence of FGM in Nigeria – Ekiti, Osun and Oyo states, with the aim of protecting women and girls from FGM by creating awareness on existing protective laws and policies, and promoting their effective implementation.
The project, through advocacy, capacity building, research and education strategies in communities, engaged and trained state and community key stakeholders to advocate the enforcement of FGM laws and policies; created awareness on FGM and promoted increased reporting of FGM incidents.
The HACEY Health Initiative has trained 96 media personnel and engaged 274 traditional and community leaders in 72 communities in Ekiti, Osun and Oyo states.
