The harmful effects of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) cannot be overemphasized.
The assumed benefit when x-rayed is discriminatory as it is borne out of a need to control the female gender and the process is against the human rights of women and girls.
For any family, community, state, or nation to thrive, it must be driven by positive values, equity, fairness, and justice; and the responsibility to drive this rests on the shoulders of every member of the society at different levels.
On this premise, The Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC) with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) conducted a community dialogue on the elimination of FGM in the Ohaozara council area of Ebonyi state.
Participants which include traditional leaders, religious leaders, cutters, women leaders, and youth leaders were drawn from eight communities in the Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi state.
The event which took place at Okposi Development Centre aimed to create a forum for cooperation and understanding between younger and older generations towards taking inclusive and decisive community action to eliminate FGM, to evaluate the impact of local customs/traditions on the health of community members, educate, create awareness and strengthen knowledge on the dangers FGM, deconstruct myths exacerbating the practice of FGM, build consensus, encourage, motivate and persuade community members practicing FGM through logical and sensible reasoning towards the abandonment of FGM, provide a platform for various populations to have conversations on pertinent FGM prevention strategies and, to promote understanding on the need to adopt behavioral change for abandonment.
The Executive Secretary of CIRDDOC, Ms. Onyinye Okaah informed participants that there are no known health benefits associated with the practice of FGM and thereafter highlighted the harmful effects.
She regretted that a lot of women and girls have lost their lives as a result of FGM and added that FGM is a violation of the human rights of women and girls.
Okaah noted that the prevalence rate of Type IV (4) FGM is very high in various communities because most women practice it ignorantly.
She called on stakeholders especially women to desist from FGM as culprits will be sanctioned according to the provisions of the Ebonyi state Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law.
Ms. Okaah urged participants to disseminate information on the dangers of FGM by leveraging existing platforms such as women groups, age groups, and youth groups.
The UNFPA Program Support Officer, Mr. Benedict Essong in a remark said that UNPA is on a mission to achieve the three transformative results before 2030, and ending FGM is aligned with the transformative result.
He stated that community dialogue is an opportunity for members of the community and stakeholders to get together to discuss a particular issue and to work together to find a way to address and solve the issue going forward.
Mr. Essong added that it is an opportunity to get communities together to engage in constructive conversations to come up with a shared way forward.
According to him, community dialogue offers a better way of challenging and changing community members’ beliefs about FGM.
He thanked all the participants and key stakeholders in Ohaozara Local Government Area for creating time amidst their busy schedule to meaningfully engage in the dialogue on ending FGM and raising its importance on the public agenda, giving confidence to those affected to speak out which also present the opportunity to facilitate inter-generational dialogues, allowing listening and questioning to happen between different generations.
The issue of Sexual and Gender Based Violence and gender equality were extensively handled by a resource person Jason Okechukwu who informed participants that FGM is a form of gender-based violence.
A community leader, Mr. Stanley Eze commended UNFPA and CIRDDOC for carrying out the intervention in their local government and committed to disseminating the information to ensure that FGM is eliminated in his community.
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