Mobilising to end FGC in Senegal – a project update

Monday 14 January 2013

Following on from the success of our motorcycle project with Tostan we launched a new project with Tostan in Senegal at the end of last year, working to accelerate the abandonment of female genital cutting in the country. We’re supporting Tostan’s social mobilisation activities in a new project taking place in several regions of Senegal, until the end of October this year, and are thrilled to be able to share with you some updates. The project got underway in Kolda and Sédhiou (southern Senegal) and in the Fouta (northern Senegal) in December, and we’ve had updates from both regions.

You can read a bit more background to the project here, and enjoy our first updates!

First of all, let’s visit Kolda and Sédhiou

Tostan has been working in Kolda and Sédhiou for some time, and our Programmes Manager actually visited Tostan-programme participants and staff members in the area in May 2012 (read this blog for more). In this part of Senegal, FGC is a widespread practice, with prevalence rates of over 85%. To support this project, Tostan identified two social mobilisation supervisors, Abdoulaye Kebe for Sédhiou and Thierno Yaayaa for Kolda, who then worked together to identify 10 social mobilisation agents, five for each region. The assembled teams are made up of people who are particularly passionate about ending FGC and are excited about beginning to spread the message of abandonment in villages throughout the region.

Here’s profiles of the social mobilisation supervisors, and we’ll be adding photos and interviews (conducted by Tostan in a respectful manner, with an interpreter) to our website in due course.

Thierno Yaayaa, Supervisor, Kolda

Thierno has been working for Tostan for nearly ten years, and is extremely experienced in social mobilization activities. One of his biggest interests is health, particularly in rural villages where access to healthcare is limited. His work with Orchid Project is simply a continuation of years of passionate service in the effort to abandon harmful practices that stand in the way of positive social change in Senegal. When he is not busy in communities, he likes to farm and occasionally works as a local merchant.

Thierno Yaayaa

Thierno Yaayaa

Abdoulaye Kebe, Supervisor, Sédhiou

Abdoulaye works for Tostan because he strongly believes in the promotion of human rights, specifically the preservation of human dignity. He is honoured to be a part of this new project and hopes to use his previous experience with social mobilisation activities to support positive behavioural change in villages throughout Sédhiou. Outside of work, Abdoulaye enjoys reading the Koran and tending his garden.

Abdoulaye Kebe

Abdoulaye Kebe

In Kolda and Sédhiou, the social mobilisation supervisors are using motorcycles (and helmets –safety first!) provided by Orchid Project during our first project with Tostan, to get around and visit communities. Thierno Yaayaa emphasises the importance of adequate transportation to help him do his job and spread the message of ending FGC: “There is no public transportation to the villages where we work and the roads are normally very bad. They are even worse in the rainy season, so motorcycles are the only option. Motorcycles make our work possible.

Thierno Yaayaa on his way to a community

Thierno Yaayaa on his way to a community

 

Meanwhile, in the Fouta

From December 17 – 28, Tostan’s social mobilisation team travelled around the Fouta, visiting six villages. Tostan’s regional co-ordination in the Fouta put together a team of 6 people, including the local supervisor for social mobilisation, to go directly into the villages and to reach out to community members, focusing on the issues of harmful traditional practices like FGC. Over these 12 days, they visited the villages of Hore Fonde, Dialagnol, Diowguél, Sinthiou Boumack, Thiascky, and Sylla Worgo.

Their first step once they arrived in a village was to reach out to the Community Management Committee (CMC) in order to include them in the social mobilisation and awareness-raising efforts. The CMC members then helped to arrange meetings between the team and religious and traditional leaders in the community. Large community meetings facilitated long, group discussions on the risks associated with FGC and child/forced marriage and included community members in designing strategies for mobilising local support.

This particular social mobilisation effort reached 417 community members – 154 men and 263 women – in 6 villages. The Tostan team was able to meet local nurses and teachers committed to ending FGC, key partners in the movement for its abandonment, and to network with community groups and associations. In discussions with community members, many expressed the belief that the decision to abandon should be made by the women of the community rather than by the men.

The visits also revealed some challenges, in particular that many have difficulties distinguishing the practice from their religion which could potentially complicate abandonment if they are not engaged in additional discussions. However, these 6 communities are engaged in the movement for the promotion of human rights and the abandonment of harmful traditional practices. They are informed about the health risks and the team reported that many are already considering abandonment even though they have not participated in a public declaration.

Unfortunately the social mobilisation team in the Fouta didn’t have a camera with them in December, so we’re hoping that next month we’ll have some images from their activity to share with you. Thank you to Tostan volunteers Angie Rowe and Elke Schmidt for their vital role in collating and providing information to Orchid Project.