$15m fund launched to create ‘unstoppable momentum’ to end FGM worldwide

Gambian activists celebrate the overturning of a bill to end a ban on female genital mutilation in 2024. But progress remains fragile, advocates say. Photograph: Malick Njie/ReutersView image in fullscreenGambian activists celebrate the overturning of a bill to end a ban on female genital mutilation in 2024.

Fundo de 5 milhões (£11,4 milhões) destinado a criar “momentum imbatível” para acabar finalmente com a prática.

O lançamento do fundo acontece enquanto os direitos das mulheres estão cada vez mais sob ataque e o financiamento de doadores está em forte declínio, especialmente para trabalhos liderados por sobreviventes de FGM em comunidades locais.

It is thought to be the largest single philanthropic contribution to ending the practice of FGM.

The United Nations has set a goal of elimination by by 2030, but progress is not on track as funding declines and legal protections are challenged.

Três dos sete estados membros federais da Somália aprovaram leis anti‑FGM, enquanto em dois outros estados projetos de lei que banem a prática foram endossados pelo gabinete e aguardam aprovação parlamentar, embora haja oposição de líderes religiosos em algumas áreas.

Defensores alertam que, embora o reconhecimento internacional da FGM como violação dos direitos humanos tenha crescido, e países como Burkina Faso, Gâmbia e Quênia tenham criminalizado a prática, o progresso permanece frágil.

In recent years, survivors and frontline groups have been trying to protect gains made over several decades.

O Supremo Tribunal da Gâmbia, por exemplo, está considerando um desafio constitucional ao banimento de mutilação genital feminina e corte no país em 2015. O caso segue um esforço parlamentar de 2024 para revogar o banimento, que os legisladores rejeitaram após meses de debate, em meio a forte resistência de grupos de direitos das mulheres.

In Sierra Leone, the new Child Rights Act does not prohibit FGM, despite sustained campaigning from rights groups.

Susan Gibbs, the Wallace Global Fund’s senior adviser on women’s rights and FGM, said: “Female genital mutilation is a global crisis, an extreme manifestation of gender-based violence and violence against children, and a public health emergency.

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She added: “We’re at this critical inflection point. Most frontline organisations have been absolutely starved for resources, and so more direct funding would allow them to sustain and scale [up] their work.”.

Read moreGibbs, who attended a Justice for Girls global gathering in Kenya earlier this month, where the fund was officially launched, said the momentum at the meeting was “incredible”.

FGM is the partial or total removal of female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It has been endured by more than 144 million women and girls in Africa, 80 million in Asia and 6 million in the Middle East.

The practice can cause immediate health complications such as severe pain, excessive bleeding and infection, as well as long-term consequences that include complications during childbirth, chronic pain and lasting psychological trauma.

A 2025 study estimated that FGM causes approximately 44,000 deaths each year in the 15 countries examined, making it one of the leading causes of death for women and girls in those countries.

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• Fundo de 5 milhões (£11,4 milhões) destinado a criar “momentum imbat