{"id":1689,"date":"2025-02-12T13:11:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T13:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2025-02-12T13:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T13:11:07","slug":"girl-child-network-and-fahp-mark-international-day-of-zero-tolerance-for-fgm-in-sierra-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/?p=1689","title":{"rendered":"Girl Child Network and FAHP Mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM in Sierra Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Saidu Dumbuya<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Makeni, Sierra Leone \u2013 Girl Child Network Sierra Leone<\/strong>, in collaboration with the Forum Against Harmful Practices (FAHP)<\/strong>, commemorated the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)<\/strong> on February 6, 2025<\/strong>, at the Conteh You Guest House<\/strong> in Makeni, Northern Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing participants, Madam Anita Koroma<\/strong>, Executive Director of Girl Child Network, emphasized that this annual UN awareness day<\/strong>, introduced in 2003<\/strong>, aims to eradicate FGM worldwide<\/strong>. She underscored that FGM is a violation of fundamental human rights<\/strong>, causing severe physical, psychological, social, and economic consequences<\/strong> that persist throughout a survivor\u2019s lifetime<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, over 230 million girls and women<\/strong> worldwide are survivors of FGM,\u201d she stated. \u201cThe stakes are high, with an estimated 27 million additional girls<\/strong> at risk in the next five years<\/strong>, and nearly 4.4 million girls projected to be at risk in 2025 alone<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madam Koroma urged greater investment in resources<\/strong>, open discussions<\/strong>, and social norm shifts<\/strong> to prevent this harmful practice. “As agents of change<\/strong>, we all have a role to play in ensuring that girls grow up free from FGM<\/strong>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme, “Stepping up the pace: Strengthening alliances and building movements to end FGM,”<\/strong> highlights the urgent need for collaboration<\/strong>. It calls on girls, boys, men, women, youth, survivors, communities, and organizations\u2014both governmental and non-governmental\u2014to take action<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key moment of the event was the pledge by 19 traditional FGM practitioners (Sowies)<\/strong> to abandon the practice. These former initiators surrendered their razors and knives<\/strong>, signaling their commitment to ending FGM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on behalf of the group, Kolorneh Sesay<\/strong>, Chairlady of the Sowies, expressed their willingness to transition away from FGM<\/strong>. “We are ready to lay down our tools<\/strong> and learn new skills<\/strong> to develop ourselves,” she affirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aminata Lucy Kamara<\/strong>, Deputy Coordinator of the Children\u2019s Forum Network (CFN)<\/strong>, educated participants\u2014particularly young girls\u2014about laws prohibiting child initiation<\/strong> into FGM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She issued a strong warning to traditional practitioners:
“Anyone caught forcefully initiating a girl will face the full force of the law and could be sentenced to prison.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event gathered participants from several surrounding communities<\/strong> in Makeni, fostering a collective commitment<\/strong> to ending FGM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This engagement marks a significant step forward<\/strong> in the fight against FGM in Sierra Leone, signaling hope for a future where girls can grow up safe, healthy, and free from harmful traditional practices<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Saidu Dumbuya Makeni, Sierra Leone \u2013 Girl Child Network Sierra Leone, in collaboration with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1691,"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions\/1691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vindicatorslnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}