Join Our Chain International Conference & #Invest2PreventFGM Campaign Launch
End FGM European Network Hosts Event at the European Parliament to Launch 2025 Annual Campaign and Celebrate the Completion of the Join Our Chain Project
Brussels, 4th February 2025 – In anticipation of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, the End FGM European Network hosted a significant event at the European Parliament on 4th February 2025. The event was co-hosted by MEP Maria Noichl (S&D Germany) and it starts the Week of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
As explained by the End FGM EU’s Interim Director, Marianne Nguena “This year, with the new EU mandate, and some projects like Join Our Chain coming to their end, we are taking the opportunity to organise a full week of events here in Brussels in the heart of the European institutions where so many important decisions that affect us are taken. We need, as a Network and as a movement, to strengthen our collective voice and ensure that we push for the full implementation of the key policies that concern us, holding authorities accountable.”
The international conference celebrated the successful conclusion of the Join Our Chain project, an important initiative dedicated to preventing and eliminating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Early and Forced Marriage (EFM). The conference served as a platform to discuss strategies and actions necessary to eliminate FGM by the 2030 deadline.
Organised by the End FGM European Network and project partners TERRE DES FEMMES (Germany), Action Aid (Italy), and Akidwa (Ireland), provided an overview of the two-year Join Our Chain project. The event featured presentations on the project’s achievements, including the outcomes of the three intervention chains in Germany, Italy, and Ireland, as well as the impact of the Chain for Change awareness-raising campaign.
Key stakeholders, in particular the Community Trainers (CTs), and policymakers participated in discussions highlighting the positive and transformative results of the project, as well as the challenges that are still faced at the community level and above. The discussions were centered around how the project’s work has contributed to the fight against FGM and EFM in these countries.
The conference was conducted in English, with interventions in Italian and German.
End FGM EU Annual Campaign
For the End FGM EU – also a project partner in Join Our Chain – this conference was also the moment to present the Network’s Annual communication campaign, revealing its theme for the first time.
#Invest2PreventFGM: Building a Future Free from FGM
“We have chosen this theme to highlight the critical need to invest in sustainable prevention strategies to eliminate FGM” explained the Interim Director, before presenting in more detail how investment in prevention and protection measures is not only the best way to ensure a sustainable end to FGM and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, but also an effective way to reduce the costs, specifically the economic burden, that similar practices bring to society as a whole.
Throughout the campaign, the Network will focus on prevention strategies across all sectors of society, with a different subtheme each month. These include: support and healthcare services for Survivors, engaging youth and affected communities, protection & prevention best practices involving an intersectional & inclusive approach, real-life stories featuring community leaders and Survivors, and more.
The End FGM EU campaign toolkit can be explored [here].
The event then continued with the panel discussions from the Join our Chain partners and the community trainers sharing their experiences and recommendations to the audience and in particular to the EU policy-makers. Many CTs, some of them FGM Survivors, delivered powerful messages and shared their personal stories and experiences, highlighting how important the possibility to have a voice, break the taboo and talk openly about GBV is necessary to provoke positive change.
All CTs called also on the importance of having collective actions from many fronts. As Riham Ibrahim, a young community leader from Italy (Action Aid Italy) put it:
“Efforts should not focus only on women; men, brothers, leaders, and religious figures also have the power to lead the change. Access to medical and technological support for survivors is crucial, as the consequences of FGM can lead to depression and other disorders. With sensitivity and expertise, we must recognize and address Survivors' needs.. No woman should suffer in silence.”
The event was also streamed on End FGM European Network's social media channels Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.
