Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is one of this Health sector programme which is a violation of human rights of women and girls. Even if not intended as a violent act, the practice is de facto crime. FGM/C is also a critical reproductive health issue which must be approached with clear understanding of the cultural context in which it is practiced.
The practice is rooted in cultural understandings of gender, marriage and family. These understandings influence how it is viewed and tolerated in different contexts.Despite the diversity found across and within the villages/sites intervened in the projects, the experiences reported confirm that in communities where it is practiced, FGM/C is viewed as a necessary step to raise and protect a girl and often to make her eligible for marriage. It operates as a social convention and a social norm, and is held in place by reciprocal expectations within those communities.
Major areas of focus include:
– Awareness raising program on FGM/C, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
– Community education on the effects of Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/FGC),
– Design and production of IEC materials
– Conducting sensitization training for teachers, CECs, youth and religious leaders etc.
– Training for Trainers (ToT) training on FGM/C
– Television debates
– Posting articles on FGM/C implications on social networks
– Support to the mentally sick patients of Hargeisa Group Hospital
– Training on hygiene and sanitation in pastoral and agro-pastoral communities
Humanitarian interventions during emergencies
– Unconditional cash relief program for disabled and marginalized groups
– Cash for work for increasing employment opportunity
– Water trucking to affected communities during drought periods
– Human and livestock health interventions
– Distribution of food and non-food items (NFI’s)
The following projects are on-going and completed health and gender field projects
Introduction The project is community Driven FGM/C Abandonment and Women Empowerment in Somaliland. The approach will use is holistic approach which is applicable to Somali context. Candlelight will adapt and use the “Community Empowerment Program/ Approach or Community-led change approach” which is a non-formal education program that puts rural communities […]
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a range of procedures which involve ‘the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reason’. The majority of Somalis practice […]
Over the years Candlelight has been playing a leading and active role in the campaign of the female genital mutilation (FGM/C) in Somaliland. Different approaches have been employed to increase the understanding of the communities regarding the issue and acceleration of its abandonment. The following have been the main methods […]
The term “Female Genital Mutilation” (FGM) includes all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or any other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice is medically unnecessary, extremely painful and has serious health consequences, both at the time when the mutilation is carried out and later in […]
