NGOs form coalition against female genital mutilation

Seven non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Tanzania have formed a coalition to fight female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that is still widespread in the East African country. "Various studies have shown that at least 18 percent of women in Tanzania are victims of FGM," Hellen Kijo-Bisimba, the coalition's co-ordinator, said in Dar es Salaam on Friday, ahead of its official launch on 6 February. She said FGM was rampant in central and northeastern Tanzania where, in some communities, up to 100 percent of women undergo the ritual, which involves the removal of parts of the female sex organ. "The main objective of the coalition is to intensify the campaign against this dangerous and unhealthy cultural practice," she said. "Rallies, public condemnation campaigns and counselling to elders, opinion leaders and school children carried out by various activists appear to be bearing fruit. In some parts of the country, 'Ngaribas' [traditional circumcisers] have stopped the practice." Kijo-Bisimba said that after counselling, at least 300 Ngaribas had surrendered the tools of their trade - knives and blades - to village authorities. Some had even joined the anti-FGM crusade, she added. "There is also increased awareness and goodwill among the clergy and politicians at the grassroots," she said. "But what is most important is the fact that many parents are now against genital mutilation of their daughters, which was not the case in the past." "Some religious leaders now openly condemn the practice in their sermons, while in some villages by-laws against FGM and other repugnant cultures have been enacted," Kijo-Bisimba, who is the managing director of the non-governmental Legal and Human Rights Centre. She said until a few years ago, uncircumcised women from ethnic communities such as the Maasai and Kurya in the north, as well as the Rangi and Nyaturu in the central parts of the country, were subjected to public ridicule. "They were regarded as uninitiated, outcasts and dirty," Kijo-Bisimba said. Other NGOs in the coalition are the Tanzania Women Lawyers' Association, Tanzania Media Women Association, Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Network, Women Wake Up, Network Against Female Genital Mutilation, and the Dodoma Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting Health of Women and Children. The coalition's launch on Sunday would coincide with the marking of the International Day on Zero Tolerance to FGM. The national marking of the day will take place in Tanzania's administrative capital, Dodoma. The director of media women's association, Ananilea Nkya, said the coalition would serve as a forum for advocacy on issues relating to FGM and a centre for exchange of information on the issue. "We want to make FGM a thing of the past in Tanzania," she said.