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Engaging Political Leaders in the fight to End FGM, Wajir County, Kenya

By Ali Mohamed,

Ali Mohamed is an anti-FGM campaigner. In this report he shares his experience with campaigning for the 16 days of activism in Wajir County.

The Media Project:

The project was to voice against FGM in Wajir County during the 16 days of activism. The 16 days of activism are marked to fight the FGM across the globe and so we have done activities too to fight FGM. We have engaged political leaders including the ward representatives, area MP and women representative in Wajir to give weight to the continued fight for FGM 

Our success:

The media project was very successful, reaching an estimated 250,000 people drawn from the larger Wajir County. The Wajir county women representative took time to take to the talk show to talk about the FGM among the community and her stand on the issue. 

Wajir county women county rep with students of Hodhan primary school

Strong messages:

The message that came out was that political leaders stand with religious leaders, civil societies, and other crusaders in the fight against FGM. The political message was there is no room for FGM. We need to end it.

Unexpected wins:

The county representative was joined by the area member of parliament Mr. Rashid Khalif who together with the county women rep distributed sanitary pads to the students of:

  • Hodhan primary  
  • Wagberi primary
  • Jogbaro secondary

In addition, the other win was the politicians distributing sanitary pads as they advocated for ending FGM.

  • If you were to carry out this activity again, what would you do differently?  

Give more airtime during the 16 days of activism to engage more stakeholders.

Ruth Harley

Ruth Harley is working with GMC as a Website News Editor, compiling stories written by End FGM campaigners working with the Global Media Campaign to End FGM across Africa. Alongside this work, she is running The Women’s Vinyl Project which empowers women and girls through singing and music and is helping to end FGM.