East Africa Sub Regional conference

A sub regional conference against female genital mutilation in the horn of Africa was held from March 27 to 28 at Hager Media hall in Asmara. The conference was organized by the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) and was funded by an international organization No Peace With out Justice (NPWJ) and representatives from Djibouti, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as different international and national organizations and invited guests have participated in the workshop.

Opening the conference, the chairperson of NUEW, Ms. Luul Ghebreab, stressed the significance of such a conference as it is being held at a time when Eritrea is striving to avoid backwardness and harmful practices through adopting proclamations and prohibiting harmful traditional practices.

She underlined that despite the fact that Eritrea has issued proclamation against female circumcision and is working diligently to control and prevent the harmful practices, still a lot remains to be done to fully uproot FGM.

On behalf of the organizing committee, Ms. Tsega Gaim, expressed her appreciation to the participants for attending the conference and pointed out that its main objective is to create a conducive ground for exchanging experience and avoid female circumcision in the region. Noting that the NUEW has all along been striving to put an end to female genital mutilation, she explained that Eritrea’s issuance of a proclamation prohibiting female circumcision was an encouraging step that pleased Eritrean nationals, the concerned countries, the region and the world at large.

Director General in the Ministry of health, Mr. Berhane Gebretinsaie, on his part indicated that although the practice of female circumcision is deeply rooted in Eritrean culture, the EPLF has been combating this harmful practice since the days of the armed struggle. He added that the adoption of proclamation No.157/2007 attests to this fact. Mr. Berhane further explained that there are over 164 million FGM victims and the practice is still threatening more than 3 million women. In this regard, he stressed the need for coordinated endeavors to control and avoid the harmful traditional practice. Mrs. Eva Johansson, UNICEF Country Representative said that for UNICEF, FGM abolishment is a key issue and a priority. UNICEF is committed to its continued technical support and financial contribution towards the abandonment of FGM in Eritrea and the sub-region. She further proposed seven fundamental elements that should be taken into account in our work and during this forum, towards the abandonment of FGM:

1. A non-coercive and non-judgmental approach whose primary focus is the fulfillment of human rights (child rights in particular) and the empowerment of girls and women
2. An awareness on the part of the community on the harm caused by the practice through the establishment of anti-FGM communities in each village
3. The decision to abandon the practice as a collective and individual choice
4. An explicit public affirmation on the part of communities of their collective commitment to abandon FGM
5. The system of accountability and reporting needs to be established to monitor the progress made so far, challenges and solutions sought and promising practices documented.
6. A process of organizing diffusion to ensure that the decision to abandon FGM spreads rapidly from one community to another and is sustained.
7. An environment that enables and supports change.

Ms. Alvilda Jablonco, from No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) was the last speaker to give the opening remark for the conference.

Ms. Alvilda Jablonco said that NPWJ is an international NGO that is dedicated to human rights violation and that it is dedicated in advocating safety and well being of human being. For instance FGM to be eradicated there needs to be the proper legal, political and social environment. While introducing her organization Ms. Alvilda said, NPWJ operates in Italy and Belgium but has conducted local efforts in several parts of Africa, including Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Djibouti and the Sudan.

The opening session was over after having the WARI Cultural Band graced the workshop by showing cultural songs and dances.