Stakeholders Call for Increased Voice in Fighting FGM in Tz

Grace Mwangwa, deputy director of the family section of the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, said the government was also considering moving mothers. do not suffer during childbirth.

Mwangwa said during the screening of the film in the name of your daughter who held in Dar es Salaam.

The film directed and produced by Giselle Portenier aims to tell stories of people living and practicing FGM in the Mara region.

The official noted that currently, the government is working with communities through the defined structures to reach extension agents, influential leaders, religious leaders, parents and girls to raise awareness and help with encourage the abandonment of FGM.

She said; "We need to step up interventions and we need to act now." Girls under one year of age are becoming more and more practiced in the last twenty years and since it was criminalized in 1998 , the prevalence of FGM increased from 18% to 10%. "

Mwangwa also stressed the need for joint efforts to raise awareness of female genital mutilation. reduce the number of girls and young women in this life threatening practice.

She encouraged development partners and donors to support more women and girls so that they could make their voices heard and help end the practice.

Edda Sanga, Director of the Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA), said everyone should be involved in raising the voice to stop Female Genital Mutilation in Tanzania.

She stated that female genital mutilation had contributed to the escalation of other human rights violations such as child marriage and the existence of teenage mothers.

"Collaboration among all stakeholders is very important in ending the practice of FGM, and our goal is to make all girls realize their dreams by getting rid of the old practices."

Chief of Staff Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Tanzania, said Ambassador Roeland Van De Geer; "The EU was strongly committed to assisting Tanzanian government and civil society to fight violence against women and children. "

He informed that the European Union had supported a number of projects Violence against women and children in the 2017-22 period launched by the government in 2016.