2017 National Launch of the European platform to End FGM

February 7, 2017

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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