Female genital mutilation/cutting worldwide: What are donors doing?

Although national governments, UN organizations, NGOs and donors all have worked to abolish

the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting for decades, very little has been achieved. Examinations of prevalence across two generations of women in Africa show that the problem has not decreased over the last 20-30 years. This presentation will highlights the results of a survey conducted in collaboration with the Donors Working Group on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) on the funding community's efforts to accelerate FGM/C abandonment. The Donor's Working Group is a network of public and private agencies from around the world that include in their strategy the provision of funding for efforts to end FGM/C. Its members approach this strategic direction with a wide range of concerns, priorities, and strategies but share the common desire to enhance their effectiveness as donors.

A number of donors have recently increased their efforts to combat FGM/C. The Donors Working Group recently developed a blueprint entitled “Toward a Common Framework for the Abandonment of FGM/C” in hopes of luring more funders into the fold. UNICEF has estimated that $240 million over 10 years will be needed to achieve a major reduction in FGM/C prevalence by 2015. Survey data will be summarized from 20 bilateral, multilateral and private foundation donors, providing information on how much money is being invested in FGM/C eradication efforts, future funding forecasts, funding frameworks and assumptions, program approaches prioritized, geographic coverage, and challenges and opportunities in donor collaboration and coordination.