CSW66: Engaging Men to End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Theme Statement

Recognizing that FGM/C is a social and gendered norm, upheld through complex systems of patriarchy and tradition, our global Call to Action acknowledges the need to engage boys and men. The live webinar will explore how boys and men are involved in efforts to end FGM/C globally, and what the movement is doing to expand male participation, through a mixture of panel discussion, fireside chat, case study and perspectives from grassroots activists. 

About the Event:

WHAT: Engaging Men to End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

DATE: Monday, March 14, 2022

TIME: 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings time (EDT) (e.g. New York, USA)

FORMAT: Zoom

MODERATOR

Carol Jenkins

President and CEO of the ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality

Carol Jenkins is a women’s rights activist, author, television host, and former television journalist. She currently serves as President and CEO of the ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality, sister organizations dedicated to the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States. Previously, Carol Jenkins was founding president of The Women’s Media Center, a national nonprofit organization created to increase coverage and participation of women in media. As former chair and current board member of Amref Health Africa USA, an arm of the largest health NGO in Africa, Ms. Jenkins is engaged in efforts to support health programs for African women and girls.


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SPEAKERS

Mireille Tushiminina

Global Coordinator of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation

Ms. Mireille Tushiminina, Global Coordinator of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation has more than 21 years of expertise, at the senior management level, in international development, conflict prevention & resolution, peacebuilding, policy reforms, women's peace and security agenda, human rights, and gender & democratization. Before joining UNFPA in Addis, Ethiopia, Ms. Tushiminina served as Country program coordinator for UN Women in Bujumbura, Burundi.  

 

Rodrigue Nkwayaya

European End FGM Network

Champion of Change with AkiDwA/Ireland or Akina Dada wa Africa, national network of migrant women living in Ireland. He is a facilitator looking into the issue of Female Genital Mutilation among migrants living in Ireland in the Direct Provision Centres. Rodrigue works with men and communities to fight against FGM.

Catherine Cox

Programme Coordinator, Sahiyo - Bhaiyo program, Global Platform to end FGM/C.

Catherine Cox is the U.S. Programs Coordinator for Sahiyo: United Against Female Genital Cutting a transnational organization dedicated to empowering communities to end female genital cutting through dialogue, education, and collaboration. In her time at Sahiyo, she has been working to help run Bhaiyo, Sahiyo's male allyship program. Bhaiyo's mission is to create a space where male allies can come together to collaborate, spark dialogue, and spread information about this form of gender-based violence and its harmful impacts.

Fatima Sy 

Executive Secretary of the Senegalese Association for the Future of Women and Children (ASAFE)

I am a young woman working in the public health and humanitarian field for more than 10 years; Concerned about the future of young people and more particularly women, I had the honor in 2011 to join the Association des jeunes pour le Développement (AJD/Pasteef) as an assistant program manager. This position allowed me very early on to lead several programs to combat violence against women and young people. Living in a patriarchal society where the man is considered superior to the woman, we have noted for centuries multiple violence exerted against the latter. This is why I decided to participate in the awareness of my sisters and brothers in order to change this silence.

"To participate in the fight against female genital mutilation, it is important to involve future parents, namely young people". "Participating in the emancipation of women and girls is a duty of every citizen". Also, in the same vein, I currently hold the position of Executive Secretary of the Senegalese Association for the Future of Women and Children (ASAFE), created in 1997 and legally recognized in 2002. Indeed, I hold a Higher Diploma in Social Work option Social Services Management, a Master II in Finance and Public Management, a Master 2 in Citizenship, Human Rights and Humanitarian Action and a state diploma in social work, specialist in supervised education. I am passionate about early childhood and my fight is to see a significant representation of young people in decision-making bodies. With that, I was recently elected deputy mayor of the city of Guédiawaye. Fatimata Mamadou L. SY, Counselor in Social Work, specialized in Management of Social Services, Lawyer, specialized in Citizenship, Human Rights and Humanitarian Action Holder of a master's degree in Finance and Public Management 

Mariya Taher 

 Co-Founder and US Executive Director of Sahiyo

Mariya has worked in gender-based violence for over a decade in the areas of teaching, research, policy, program development, and direct service. In 2015, she co-founded Sahiyo, an award-winning, transnational organization with the mission to empower Asian and other communities to end female genital cutting (FGC). In 2018, Mariya received the Human Rights Storytellers Award from the Muslim American Leadership Alliance for her innovative approach in using storytelling to engage communities in abandoning FGC. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the six inaugural grant recipients for the Crave Foundation for Women. She also sits on the steering committee for the US End FGM/C Network. As of 2021, Mariya serves as an expert consultant for the Department Of Justice Addressing Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting technical assistance project.

Dame Ndiaye

Coordinator of the National Youth Alliance for Reproductive Health

Graduated in project management and organization, Dame Ndiaye capitalizes on an experience of more than 12 years on health and development issues. 

Activist, engaged in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health rights of young people, issues of gender equality and human rights. His commitment aims to promote actions that can provide young people and women with access to information, to health services adapted to their needs, to fight against early, unwanted pregnancies, infanticides, STIs, HIV/ AIDS and maternal, child and neonatal mortality, FGM/C, child marriage, malnutrition and others. In 2008, he was co-opted by the ASBF as peer educators.

His very early integration into associative movements, allowed him to capitalize on a solid experience on health issues through training, seminars, workshops, community activities and national and international conferences. In 2010, he was recruited thanks to his leadership to coordinate the ASK project in the Dakar region in order to facilitate young people's access to quality health services. In 2013, he was supervisor of the evaluation of the community strategy project to fight against maternal and neonatal mortality in the health district of Ndiaréme Guédiawaye. In 2016, he co-founded the National Youth Alliance for Reproductive Health and Family Planning in Senegal. This alliance has enabled him to build the capacities of several young people on health development issues. The ANJSRPF is an umbrella association that brings together young people and youth associations working on reproductive health issues, on FGM-F, on GBV. The idea of ​​setting up ANJ-SR/PF is to capitalize on the experiences of all these young people and make interventions with young people, by young people on issues such as FGM, reproductive health, nutrition, food and issues of sustainable development. It works for the involvement of young people in decision-making bodies. In the same year, he initiated the consultation framework for young leaders to enable them to take ownership of policies and programs at the national and international level. It is in this spirit that he was in charge of the programs of the APC project funded by FHI360 as part of the promotion of young people's access to quality health services. 

His commitment and dedication to respecting the sexual rights of adolescents and young people enabled him to be head of the RHRN platform from 2017 to 2020, which is a program essentially focused on capacity building and advocacy funded by Rugters. In 2017, he participated in a study on the factors favoring child marriage in Senegal. 

His highly valued experience is the subject of requests from civil society organizations and the Directorate of Reproductive Health in the development of health policies and programs for young people. Mr. NDIAYE participated in and moderated several panels on issues of health, demographic dividend, FP, nutrition and NTDs; Dame NDIAYE, represented Senegal in several conferences at the international level: International Conference on Family Planning Indonesia International Conference on Neglected Tropical Diseases Currently 

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