Issued Tuesday 28 March 2017
The
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the Gambia
Government continue to support GAMCOTRAP in its bid to continue its social
mobilization activities in the North Bank Region educating community members on
the consequences of FGM and other harmful traditional practices inimical to
women’s health and simultaneously popularizing contents of the Women’s
Amendment Act on FGM 2015
In
line with the goal of the Joint Programme which aims at ending all forms of
violation of basic human rights of girls and women and to accelerate the
abandonment of FGM in The Gambia, the organisation is also in line with the
commitments made by the Gambia Government that signed and ratified regional and
international human rights conventions promoting this goal.
One
of such convention signed was the AU Protocol to the African Charter on Human
and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa which was signed, ratified
and domesticated into the Women’s Act 2010.
As the work on FGM intensified, The Government of The Gambia enacted a
law criminalizing the act in 2015 which is still valid and operational.
In its 2017 Country Programme, activities are
geared towards supporting the Government’s obligation to eradicate FGM and
other harmful traditional practices affecting sexual and reproductive health
and rights of women and the girl-child in The Gambia within its project
entitled “Accelerating the abandonment of FGM in The Gambia”.
This
is a continuation of a two year project being implemented in the three
districts of the North Bank Region namely: Lower Niumi, Upper Niumi and Jokadu
districts. Activities will target different groups. Amongst these are
circumcisers and their assistants who are the primary custodians of FGM,
community leaders, religious scholars, women leaders, women of reproductive
age, traditional birth attendants, and young people who will be identified by
their communities to attend the meetings.
GAMCOTRAP
will take a holistic approach in implementing the project during all phases. It
will partner with District Chiefs and members of the community with a view to
providing accurate information and empower target groups to lead the change
that would promote and protect women and girl-children from all harmful
practices and other forms of gender based violence.
The
first activity will be conducted for 50 circumcisers and their assistants in
Essau village in the Lower Niumi District from 27th to the 29th March 2017.
Mary
Small
GAMCOTRAP
