Recognizing FGC as a human rights issue and as a customary practice that jeopardizes the dignity and health of girls and women, CARE developed a multi-country (Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan) project and concurrent research studies. Participatory research and operations research provided baselines of how people defined rights to health and rights of women and children. Such definitions offer a basis for holistic examination of structural and societal causes of the violations of women's health rights and data that assists work to change attitudes and eliminate practices that undermine the dignity of women and their rights to good health. While using experimental research, the effectiveness of education using behavior change communication approaches is compared to education coupled with advocacy activities. Education and advocacy interventions are designed to improve awareness of, create debate, and support actions to combat the harmful effects of FGC, leading to abandonment of FGC. Early lessons learnt are: · Important issues that affect a community must be debated in public. · Education enables individuals and communities to defend and make informed decisions about ending FGC. · Religious leaders are important in the efforts to demystify beliefs about FGC and have power to create an enabling environment for interventions to end FGC. · Reinforcing positive values associated with FGC is important. The programming implications are that change has to come from within communities and must involve men. Interventions must provoke discussions while providing knowledge to inform decisions and empower women to claim and exercise rights and fulfil their responsibilities.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation the learner will be able to: 1. Assess the effectiveness of utilizing participatory based methods as a means to gaining insights that allow for effective programming of interventions to end FGC.
Keywords: Human Rights, Women's Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None