Ebonyi State government, through the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has mobilized over twenty-five Civil Society and Community-based Organisations to combat Female genital mutilation/cutting in Izzi Local government area of the state.
The Ministry is collaborating with the CSOs to implement FGM abandonment project in communities in Izzi LGA.
The project is aimed at ultimately facilitating a public outlaw of the practice by engaging community stakeholders across the 18 communities in Izzi LGA: traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth and women groups as well as law enforcement agencies.
The exercise is projected to last for 6 weeks with intensive advocacy, intergenerational dialogue, public declaration for FGM abandonment and capacity building for surveillance.
Some of the organizations involved in the campaign include Gracefield Development Initiative of Nigeria (GDIN), Research in Development and Health Care-Consultancy (RIDHEC-C), BERWO, DOVENET, VOFCA, SMLAS, HIFWYD, STERLING, among others.
Speaking to Newsmen Saturday in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital, the Head of Department, Women Affairs in the Ministry, Mrs Nwakaego Igboke, explained that the project was neccessited by the findings by UNFPA of high prevalence of the practice in Izzi.
Igboke who spoke on behalf of the Commissioner, Mrs Felicia Nwamkpuma, expressed optimism that the exercise would ring a final knell to FGM practice in the area.
She emphasized: “My expectation at the end of this exercise is that we will not continue to see any single girl or woman circumcised in Izzi communities.
“FGM will be eradicated and completely abandoned.”
While appreciating the UNFPA for its invaluable support, Igboke commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for his care and concern for the people of the state, describing him as a gender- friendly Governor.
She also commended the Civil Society and Community-based organisations for driving the campaign with zeal and commitment.
One of the project facilitators, Emmanuel Ogharu, in a statement, identified ignorance, culture and tradition, myths and misconceptions as some of the factors responsible for FGM persistence in communities.
Ogharu, a reproductive Health Coordinator with Ebonyi State Ministry of Health prescribed sustained education on the dangers of FGM/C, persuasion and stakeholders engagement as key in achieving success in the fight against the practice.
He commended UNFPA, the Ministry of Women Affairs, the CSOs and CBOs for intensifying advocacy toward ending the practice in Izzi.
Some of the community leaders who spoke during the advocacy meetings in their communities: Ndiechi Agbaja, Nchoko, Ezza inymagu, Ndiechi Igbeagu, Enyim Agbaja, Mgbalaukwu, among other communities, observed that the practice was enshrined in their tradition as a prerequisite for any girl to be initiated into full womanhood.
They observed that taking the campaign to Amagu, the ancestral home of Izhi clan would enhance the campaign for its total abolishment, emphasizing that “some community members, especially those practicing traditional religion cannot accept to stop FGM in totality except if abolished from their ancestral home.”
However, the traditional ruler of Ndiechi Agbaja community, Eze Stephen Ibina, clarified that most communities, with increased awareness of the dangers have deemphasized the actual genital cutting and mutilation involved in the traditional celebration while upholding only the non injurious social aspects as a passage rite into full womanhood.
Meanwhile, an FGM survivor in Ndiechi Agbaja, Mrs Josephine Ofoke, during the advocacy meeting by one of the CSOs, Gracefield Development Initiative of Nigeria, narrated her ugly experience with FGM, and called on the people to unite against the practice.
Ofoke narrated: “I survived FGM, but suffered severe complications during child birth in 1988.
“I almost bled to death, and the pain was unbearable.
“Thankfully, the mission hospital nearby provided critical care.
“That experience was a turning point for me: I have become a champion advocating for the abolition of the practice in my community.
“I wouldn’t wish the pain on anyone, and I’ve ensured that none of my children, especially my four girls underwent FGM.
“Let’s work together to end this harmful practice because it has no benefit, only risk and pain.”
