NGO launches Community Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation

A campaign to end the alarming rates of female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria and strengthen strategic partnerships with local population and influencers has been inaugurated by Trailblazer Initiative Nigeria (TBI), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria.

The campaign tagged " Movement for Good" is a community-led undertaking to accelerate grassroots efforts to end Female Mutilation in Five joint programme states with high prevalence rate.

The movement seeks to mobilize five million people who will pledge and "act to End FGM in the five burden states which include Ebonyi, Ekiti, Imo, Osun and Oyo.

The Executive Director, TBI, Mr Dare Olagoke-Adaramoye during a day state-level orientation meeting with the executives of youths and women organisations for partnership on ‘Movement for Good (M4Good)’ recently in Ibadan, described FGM  as all procedures that involve the partial or total removal of external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

Adaramoye, a UNICEF facilitator, stressed that the objectives of the meeting was to increase the knowledge of FGM, mobilse, orientate and secure partnership of youths and women-led Community Based Organisations (CBOs) on FGM and to develop an action plan for M4Good partners

He noted that FGM complications results in  intense pain, excessive bleeding, urinary inconvenience, difficulties during menstruation, clitoral neuroma and difficulties during sexual intercourse and childbirth among others, which is violence against human rights.

He however called on people to join the movement and act to end FGM by visiting https://act2endfgm.com/rtbi to make pledge to end FGM online.

Also speaking, the Director, Children Welfare, Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs, Mr Lateef Ariori, advised 

participants to  report FMG cases to the appropriate authorities,working hand in hand with religious and community leaders to put an end to the practice.