The
Girl Generation (TGG) on Friday held a symposium on Female Genital Mutilation
(FGM) to commemorate the celebration of Day of the African Child.
The
symposium, which brought together young people from different tertiary
institutions across the country, was held at the Actionaid Conference Hall in
Kanifing.
Declaring
the symposium open, Lamin Darboe, the Executive Director of National youth
Council (NYC), said the fight against FGM started well before some of them were
born.
He
said they would continue to appreciate the efforts of their mentors and leaders
who have championed it before them, however, they would acknowledge the
contribution of young people which led to the banning of FGM in the country.
Mr
Daboe said the fact that law has been
in practice does not mean that the
practice was not taking place in the communities, villages or the neighbouring
countries.
He said the banning of FGM was a necessary
condition but not sufficient for the abandonment of FGM practices in the
communities.
For
her part, Oumie Sissoho, TGG survivor Ambassador, said ending FGM in a
generation was the responsibility of the young people because the young people
have the recipe, power and connection and the commitment to end FGM.
She said in marking the Day of the African
Child, they as the girl generation feel that they could domesticate the theme
and do something on FGM.
She
said the plan may look very simple but they know ending FGM comes with a lot of
hard work and commitment.
To
that end, she said, there was one agreement across the world that if they want
to end FGM by 2030, then the power lies on young people as they are the
solution to ending FGM
Another
speaker, Mariatou Newlands, an Activist Ambassador at TGG, said their purpose
of gathering was to have a symposium on FGM in commemoration of the Day of the
African Child.
She
said targeting individuals from the tertiary institutions was a way of bridging
the gap because there was a gap when it comes to school outreaches, adding that
FGM is a deeply rooted practice that lots of individuals cannot take their
minds off it.
Also
speaking, Modou Lamin Davies, Chairperson of Youth Anti-FGM Network in The
Gambia, said it was important to target young people in the fight against FGM,
especially young men who are going to be fathers in the near future.
“We cannot end FGM in isolation, we have to
come together, and we have our different strengths as organizations and
individuals,” he said.