Our Programme In Depth

Womankind’s work in East Africa began in urgent response to two major issues that directly and intimately affect the lives of millions of the region’s women.

Our work with partners in other parts of Africa highlighted the need for a specific programme to address the issues of Female Genital Mutilation and early, forced marriage or marriage by abduction, within the context of women’s human rights.
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We currently work in partnership with 11 organisations across 6 countries: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland.?? Our partners work at all levels – grassroots, national and international -? to support women, enabling their voices to be heard and their needs and concerns addressed within their families, their communities and their countries.?? Together, we work across the region to promote women’s human and civic rights, campaign to end discrimination and violence against women and advocate for polices and legislation that support and protect women’s development, allowing access to education, health care and economic opportunities.? Our focus is on:

Raising awareness, campaigning and lobbying on FGM; early, forced marriage or marriage by abduction and other forms of discrimination against women
Building women’s own capacity to become leaders and participate in decision-making at all levels, ensuring their needs and concerns are heard and addressed
Supporting, training and developing local non-governmental and community based organisations to advocate for women’s rights at national level
Promoting and strengthening women’s organisations and networks throughout the region, enabling them to share information and lobby to end violence and discrimination against women
Enabling? women to become economically self sufficient through credit and income generating projects

Progress so far

In all 6 countries across the region, Womankind’s partnership programme is helping to challenge and change attitudes and behaviours. At local level, individuals and communities are breaking the silence and taboos around the issues of Female Genital Mutilation and early, forced or marriage by abduction.? Men are beginning to talk - and listen - to women and are acknowledging the importance of education for girls and young women.

Girls themselves have begun talking to their teachers and reporting family plans for their, or a friend’s, early marriage and circumcision. Increasingly, they are beginning to question their life circumstances: why they do not have equal educational opportunities.? Why they have to undergo circumcision. Why they are poor and why they are excluded from decision-making on the issues that most affect them and their families.
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Growing awareness of women’s human? rights and increasing confidence in calling for change, has resulted in more cases of violence and discrimination being reported across the region. One of our partners in Kenya noted that in the period 2004-5;? 11 cases of rape were reported, 5 of FGM; 35 of early marriage and 35 domestic violence cases. These figures represent a significant shift in willingness to report cases of violence against women that previously may have gone unrecorded and unnoticed.? ?

Work with youth communities across East Africa is also changing attitudes. Growing numbers of young people – male and female – across all 6 countries are openly questioning the practice of FGM and acknowledging that it is socially acceptable for girls not to undergo circumcision in any form.

At national level, many of our partners work to influence their governments to eradicate Harmful Traditional Practices and to develop and implement policies and laws that promote women’s human rights, and protect them against multiple forms of discrimination and violence.? Intensive lobbying in Sudan has resulted in the? government banning its country’s medical practitioners from undertaking any form of FGM. While in Ethiopia, the House of People’s Representatives – following a long period of revision -? adopted the amendments to the country’s Penal Code that relate to female circumcision.? Ethiopia now uses fines and imprisonment to strengthen its policy of eradication of Harmful Traditional Practices:? for those guilty of the circumcision of any female, of any age, the punishment is no less than 3 months imprisonment or a fine of not less than 500Birr (approx ?33); a maximum sentence of 3 years? imprisonment may also be imposed. For those guilty of the most severe form of FGM – Infibulation – the punishment is 5 years imprisonment.

Ethiopia’s laws on another Harmful Traditional Practice – marriage by abduction - have also been strengthened.? The punishment for abduction is now 10 years imprisonment, if rape follows an abduction the sentence increases by a further 5 years, to a maximum of 15.

Other partners across the region work closely with health, education and social work professionals and organisations, helping them develop programmes that acknowledge and respond to the real needs and concerns of girls and women in their countries. Whether the cooperation is with religious and community leaders or non-governmental and governmental organisations, the aim is to raise awareness of the issues and campaign, lobby and advocate for change.

The next steps

However, despite significant achievements our partners continue to work in difficult circumstances. A real lack of resources both financial and physical, plus poor infrastructure within their own countries, combines with a reluctance to fully engage with the issues by key policy and decision makers. Female Genital Mutilation and early, forced or marriage by abduction is still not seen as a high political priority for many of East Africa’s governmental agencies and policy makers.? Much of our partners work is focussed on providing information and training to such policy makers, to raise their awareness of the issues and secure their support in helping eradicate harmful practices that damage women’s lives.

By building on the solid work that has already begun and by working closely together across the region, our partners can share skills and experience and develop strong networks to lobby at local, national and international level.

Working together to make a difference