The German government has once again stepped in to support frontline women’s organisations working to end FGM in some of the hardest-hit regions of East Africa – including Wajir in north-east Kenya, where prevalence remains among the highest in the country. The project will bring FGM bans the last mile, reaching remote communities across the Somali regions of East Africa, led by frontliners at the Ifrah Foundation (Galmudug), in partnership with GMC, alongside grassroots partners Women Organising Women Network (Wajir) and Girl Kind (Garissa).
The Born Perfect Caravans and local media campaigns will reach over 30 hardline pro-FGM communities in the region, 11 in Wajir county alone, ensuring that news of the new FGM bans in Somalia is widespread and religious myths are debunked.
Three in-depth qualitative and quantitative impact studies, led by Vivid Research and DatamillDP, will measure changes in awareness of the law and shifts in attitudes towards FGM.
Why Wajir, Galmudug, and Garissa
The Somali regions of East Africa are some of the most entrenched FGM settings in Africa, where social norms, religious myths, and unawareness of Somali and Kenyan FGM bans mean that FGM rates remain above 90% – even hitting 98% in Galmudug.
Despite the FGM being criminalised in Kenya for 25 years, in regions like Wajir, prevalence rates remain above 95%.
- Prevalence remains extremely high
- Type III FGM, infibulation, is still dominant
- Communities are remote and hard to reach
- Cross-border movement with Somalia reinforces the practice
- Economic pressure linked to drought and livestock loss
- Humanitarian crises means that IDP camps are hotspots for FGM
In Wajir, over 95% of girls are still cut, despite FGM being banned in Kenya for 25 years. Now, local activists from Women Organising Women Network are travelling through 12 villages on the Caravans to ensure the message is clear: FGM is a crime, and girls are born perfect.
Taking the Fight the Last Mile
Frontline activists will lead Born Perfect Caravans village to village across the three regions, joined by religious leaders, law enforcement, and medics to ensure that news of Kenyan and Somali FGM bans are widespread, religious myths are debunked, and medical risks are understood.
At each stop, the Dear Daughter Pledge, pioneered by the Ifrah Foundation, will be signed – encouraging the collective eradication of FGM. Amplified by cultural influencers on local radio campaigns, legal, religious, and medical messaging will be sustained, reaching vulnerable girls in remote communities – no girl left behind.
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