Engaging Religious Leaders to Strengthen the Advocacy and Policy Response to Female Genital Cutting in Mali

Purpose: Women and girls who have undergone female genital cutting (FGC) are significantly more likely than those who have not to experience postpartum hemorrhage, low birthweight babies, or early neonatal death. In Mali, the practice of FGC is a complicated societal phenomenon. In response, from August – June 2009, the USAID | Health Policy Initiative worked with local partners in the government, civil society, religious, health, and social sectors in Mali to identify barriers to addressing FGC.

Methods: Key strategies included: (1) promoting multisectoral collaboration (among civil society, government and religious) to design and validate advocacy tools that highlight FGC's halth and human rights issues as well as demystify the religious arguments that support FGC; (2) supporting advocacy efforts led by religious leaders; and (3) targeting government officials, including Parliamentarians, to improve the policy environment for abandoning FGC practices.

Results/Lessons Learned: HPI worked with 50-60 Islamic leaders in Mali to develop an advocacy presentation that could be adapted for multiple purposes, but also presented to members of Mali's Parliament. The collaborating religious leaders then used the advocacy tool to target members of Mali's Parliament, strengthening the policy environment to eliminate FGC. Critical to the success of this approach was the process of engaging Islamic religious leaders as targets of the advocacy, leaders in the design of advocacy tools and as trained advocates who can influence national policymakers.

Conclusions/Recommendations: It is possible to successfully engage religious leaders in advocacy against FGC with guidance from demonstrated policy champions and inclusion of religious leaders' direct involvement in advocacy efforts.