2017 National Launch of the European platform to End FGM

On Monday 6 February 2017 AkiDwA launched the national UEFGM online free training tool in Dublin. This is a key part of the UEFGM project, developed with eleven other partner organisations, to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) across Europe.
Around the world, more than 200 million are living with the consequences of FGM and 3 million girls are at risk of being cut each year.
An estimated 500,000 women and girls living in the EU are affected by FGM, with a further 180,000 at risk each year.
In Ireland it has been estimated that a minimum of 3,780 women and girls living in the country have undergone FGM. Meeting the needs of these women and girls requires that the asylum, health, social support, legal, judicial, law enforcement, educational and media/communication systems of EU member states offer appropriate and accessible high-quality services.
Akina Dada wa Africa-AkiDwA (Swahili for sisterhood) is a national network of migrant women living in Ireland. The organisation was established in 2001 by a group of African women to address, isolation, racism and Gender Based Violence that the women were experiencing at the time.
AkiDwA’s vision is of a just society where there is equal opportunity and equal access to resources in all aspects of society, social, cultural, economic, civic and political. Our mission is to promote equality and justice for migrant women living in Ireland.
In 2015, the European Commission granted the Cyprus University of Technology funding for a 24-month project to develop a European web-based knowledge platform on FGM to serve as an EU-wide multilingual information and educational resource centre, providing easily accessible and culturally appropriate information and support to professionals from diverse backgrounds across the EU, to effectively deliver victim support, raise awareness of FGM, and protect women and girls living with or at risk of FGM.
This free platform went live on Friday 3rd February – EU launch) It will serve as an information and educational resource centre and offer easily accessible and culturally appropriate information.
The UEFGM e-learning toolkit aims to raise awareness of and improve knowledge about FGM amongst health professionals and asylum officers working in Europe, including midwives, gynaecologists, paediatricians, nurses, health visitors, medical and nursing students, judges, asylum case and reviewing authority officers, asylum support-centre staff, police, child protection officers, social workers and related NGOs.
It will:
- support professionals to effectively deliver victim support, protection and prevention programmes;
- provide country-specific information on EU member states;
- incorporate a human rights approach based on culture- and gender-sensitive perspectives;
- ensure targeted awareness-raising, preventing stigmatisation in the media and protecting women and girls living with or at risk of FGM.
The platform is being launched on Monday,6 February at 10.am and will take place at Europe House, 12-14 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and www.akidwa.ie for updates.
REGISTRATION/CONTACT DETAILS
UEFGM Ireland Coordinator
Email: info@akidwa.ie
Telephone: 018349851 / 0858667081
Background
United to END FGM: European Knowledge Platform for Professionals Dealing with Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a transnational project co-funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium of 12 partners and four associate partners across the European Union (EU).
The United to END FGM (UEFGM) knowledge platform builds on the United to End FGM e-learning tool for health and asylum professionals, funded by the END FGM Fund 2012 (END FGM European Campaign) and the Human Dignity Foundation, and supported by UNHCR.
The United to End FGM e-learning tool was initiated and coordinated by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) in Cyprus, in partnership with the Italian Association for Women in Development(AIDOS) inItaly, Akina Dada Wa Africa (AKIDWA) in Ireland and the
Family Planning Association Portugal(APF).
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