The Role of Policymakers in Ending Female Genital Mutilation: An African Perspective

This 4-page paper, published by the Population Reference Bureau, shares perspectives from Amina Salum Ali, Permanent Representative of the African Union to the United States, based on her visit to Tanzania in 2009, where she met with women policymakers to discuss the current status of female genital mutilation (FGM) practices in the country. Ali suggests that while important lessons have been learned, much remains to be done, and she challenges all policymakers to join in ending this harmful practice. The paper proposes that the most effective way to end FGM is to complement legal policies with education, information, and advocacy that will raise public awareness and bring about changes in attitudes within communities.

According to the author, countries may pass laws to eradicate FGM, but legal instruments by themselves cannot end the practice, since traditions and beliefs are strong and deeply rooted in societies. Public education to raise awareness about negative consequences, combined with the support of community leaders, is vital in producing behaviour change. The author suggests that life-skills education combined with other pertinent issues on FGM prevention should be encouraged in schools, and that sexual and reproductive health and knowledge of what exactly happens during FGM should be integrated into biology and hygiene lessons.

The paper further explains that education is not solely about schools and books. Gender education, sexual and reproductive health education, and education about the value of women is vital to making the needed change. These programmes must be offered through schools, in families, and in the community so that all people - from the unskilled worker to the highest-level decision maker - can fully comprehend the emotional, physical, and psychological damage that FGM imposes upon women and societies.

The paper discusses how a number of successful initiatives in the global arena have resulted from the adoption of international legal instruments. The very process of creating international consensus on an issue such as FGM creates a forum for brainstorming, discussion, and dialogue among the world’s policymakers who are interested in achieving change. Policymakers in the African continent have a great role to play in enacting and implementing the international conventions and protocols that advocate for women and children’s rights in their own countries. In addition to implementing laws to address FGM, this can also include ensuring better access to education and empowerment opportunities to work towards socioeconomic development.

Alternative rites-of-passage ceremonies have been proposed as promising approaches to ending FGM. Various grassroots organisations in East Africa, particularly in Tanzania and Kenya, have used this approach, which maintains traditional symbolism and values while adding an empowering programme of reproductive rights and health education. Traditional dances, singing, and feasting, gift giving, and the teaching of values and norms of culture without the cutting have yielded success.

The author recalls that women who she spoke with during her visit to Tanzania felt strongly that there is still a desperate need for more advocacy efforts; for closer interaction between policymakers at all levels; and for the inclusion of youth. They stressed the need for more funding for capacity building and income-generation programmes for women. They also felt that grassroots efforts are crucial, where the messages of education and empowerment can resonate, where community and cultural leaders encourage women’s groups in villages to design new rites-of-passage rituals. These new rituals can be an opportunity for educating young women on sexual and reproductive health issues, on HIV, and other health-related topics, and for life-skills education to prepare young women for the future.

The paper concludes that there is a need to recognise that FGM is not just about abandonment, "but it is also about empowerment — empowerment through educating women, men, and communities at large. It is about raising consciousness so that people can change their attitudes toward this outdated cultural practice. Women’s self-worth should not be tied to undergoing female genital mutilation; rather, women should be respected and respect themselves because of their positive contributions to society. The elimination of FGM is a health, social, and economic issue to be vigorously pursued by policymakers everywhere."