UNAF - First meeting of afro-descendant activists and mediators against FGM

More than 25 activists and intercultural mediators from all over Spain met this October for the first meeting of afro-descendant activists and mediators against FGM.

The event was organised by UNAF to create a unique and pioneering learning space, and a personal and professional exchange, for professionals who promote the prevention and eradication of FGM. During the meeting, the participants identified common experiences and feelings, building a space for mutual care and support, in which important demands arose and new synergies were germinated in the short and long term.

Photo: (From left to right, up and down) Hawa Toure, Dimbé Women's Association (Mauritania, Fuerteventura); Asha Ismail, Save a Girl, Save a Generation (Madrid/Kenya); Aminata Soucko, Red Aminata (Valencia); Aissatou Diallo, Achama Association (Barcelona); Fátima Djarra, Flor de Africa (Navarra/Guinea Bissau).

The meeting was well received by all the participants, who express the desire to continue the discussion and identified four key needs and one challenge:

• The need to promote actions to facilitate the participation of migrant women, counteracting isolation and dependency relationships through cultural actions, training and awareness-raising actions.
• The need to create safe spaces where stigma is not generated and it is possible to share experiences and learn.
• The need to involve the youth in the movement against FGM.
• The need to support migrant women's organisations. The activists warned against the risk of tokenism when working with non-migrant associations, that sometimes do not take into account migrant women's interests and demands. They called for joint projects that integrate all perspectives and where decision-making is participated and shared.
• The challenge in working with men, to have them as allies.