Deployment of 30 social workers to combat female genital mutilation (FMG) and to provide general health education.
 |
Project start date: | July 2006 |
| Duration: | originally 3 years – extended until 2014 | |
| Number of beneficiaries: | 10.000 households | |
| Local partner organization: | APDA (Afar Pastoralist Development Association) | |
| Aim: | the abolition of female genital mutilation (FGM) and other harmful practices improve women’s status in society improve family health through hygiene educatio |
Because of their remoteness and isolation the Afar still cling to age-old, inhuman traditions like female genital mutilation (FMG) and other harmful practices (bloodletting, interdiction to drink water during childbirth or when seriously ill).
Within this patriarchal society women are traditionally considered as low and inferior and they are therefore reduced to work and reproduction. The resulting bad health and psycho-social conditions of women lead to a particularly high mortality rate, especially in younger years.
Therefore the main objective of this gender-oriented project is the fight against poverty through the “empowerment of women”, with the aim to achieve an improvement of the conditions described above and to strengthen the social standing of Afar women permanently.
In the course of this project, the 30 women who achieved the highest scores in the literacy classes were trained as social workers with particular responsibility for the issues of women and children. Following a 45-day initial training phase and equally long additional training modules (which take place annually), these social workers were returned to their nomadic clans and now care for them according to their assigned responsibilities. A continuous motivation and awareness programme is designed to create the basis for broad acceptance and cooperation within the population. Experiences in other areas of the Afar Region have shown that it is possible to abolish female genital mutilation within a few years.
What is female genital mutilation?
This project is co-financed by
