Sh13b fight: The renewed push to end FGM

A Sh13 billion fund aims to boost the fight against FGM and protect girls from harmful practices. [File, Courtesy]

Last month, dignitaries from across the world met in Naivasha and launched a fund aimed at fighting female genital mutilation (FGM) more effectively and preventing future interruptions in donor funding.

Christened the Her Horizon Fund, its immediate goal is to raise $100 million (Sh13 billion) through contributions from bilateral, philanthropic and corporate donors.

A day before the launch, on September 1, a number of the dignitaries were hosted by British High Commissioner to Kenya Matt Baugh at his official residence.

At the meeting, Mamlisa Camara, co-founder of African Women’s Rights Advocate (AWRA) and its West Africa coordinator, said there was a need for political will to support leadership with resources and action.

“What we need is the political will to back that leadership with resources and action. Justice for girls must be African-led, survivor-centred and rooted in the realities of our communities,” she said.

Camara put the spotlight on the survivor-led movement, highlighting the need for governments, funders and other stakeholders to increase their support for survivor-led programmes.

Sophie Mane, founder of a survivor-led organisation in The Gambia, read the Call to Action pledge, making the case for the fund.

“As I speak, a girl is being subjected to FGM. Summer in The Gambia is ‘cutting’ season. Girls going on holiday from Europe to The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and other parts of Africa will return without parts of their bodies,” she said.

“We are told numbers are declining. They are. But we must be honest about the threats we are facing today because we are living at a time of growing anti-rights backlash and pushback by organised movements that are well resourced.

“Two years ago, Gambia, through our Parliament, came close to becoming the first nation to reverse a ban against FGM. But we stood up and blocked that attempt. This is what we must learn: a law is not the finish line; it can always be taken back.

She said that this year, one in three organisations fighting to end violence against women and girls have suspended or shut down programmes because donor funds are gone. In two years, only five per cent will still be operating.

“Our commitment, I heard it being said, is to end FGM by 2030. We must ask ourselves what we must do to reach that goal,” she said.

Mane underwent FGM at the age of three, something she says changed her life forever.

Baugh said decreasing commitment and the rollback of the rights of women and girls threatened the momentum in the fight against FGM.

“We know how to tackle FGM: governments, civil society, communities, with survivors at the centre — working together to change behaviour and end the harmful practices that threaten the health and lives of our daughters and sisters.

“And yet we are at risk of going backwards: decreasing commitment and the rollback of the rights of women and girls all threaten the momentum built. We cannot afford to lose that momentum. We cannot afford to let another generation of young women and girls suffer these practices,” said the British High Commissioner to Kenya.

Documented long-term effects of FGM include obstruction of menstruation, sexual dysfunction in adulthood, childbirth complications that can be fatal, frequent vaginal or urinary tract infections, and mental health challenges.

“We must safeguard the gains and build on the progress we have made to achieve our ultimate goal of equality. The challenges are formidable, but we cannot afford complacency,” Anne Wang’ombe, Principal Secretary at the State Department for Gender Affairs and Affirmative Action, said at the meeting.

Accountability towards 2030 was central to the Leadership Dialogue, which brought together political leaders and key stakeholders from Kenya, The Gambia and the United Kingdom, as well as survivor-led organisations and philanthropic institutions.

Participants discussed what political leaders must do to sustain momentum, strengthen accountability and elevate global commitments to end FGM and child marriage.

The conversation reflects a growing recognition across the movement that survivors should not simply be invited to share their experiences. Their knowledge and leadership must help shape policy, priorities, funding and accountability.

The launch of the anti-FGM fund in Naivasha is the largest known philanthropic commitment backing frontline organisations working to end FGM.

“Ending FGM in a generation demands that we move from defence to decisive action,” Judy Gitau, Associate Director for East and Central Africa at Equality Now, said.

By the end of the convening in Naivasha, the fund had raised $14 million (Sh1.1 billion).