End Female Genital Mutilation in 9 schools, Kenya

Dear Friend and Partner

Greetings from the Hope Foundation for African Women Team!

We are so delighted to report to you what we have been up to since our last updates on ending female genital mutilation in 9 schools.

During the month of April, we conducted a radion show sounding alarm over the secret practice of FGM during the school holiday. The school break was for 2 months and, just like other activists, we were worried that it would derail our efforts and undermine what we have achieved during the school outreaches. Luckily, radio has been a quite strong tool to voice concerns, amplify the voices of the vulnerable who are at risk of the practice, and teach on how to collectively end the practice during the holiday while respecting Covid-19 safety regulations.

On 26th April, Dr. Grace Mose, HFAW Founder, and Director participated in a talk show at Minto FM, a local radio station attached to the Kenya National Broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Station. For 2 hours, we spoke at least 40,000 listeners tuning in, about the forms of Female Genital Mutilation that are emerging given the robust campaigns against the practice. We urged the listeners to remain vigilant just as they had been for the past 2 years where more culprits have been reported.

The show was quite successful given the response and questions we received from the listeners. From this, we learnt about other problems going in the community that are as a result of girls undergoing FGM. For example, cases of teenage pregancy are at an all-time high during the holiday season. We have attached the link to the show and live session on Facebook through this link in this report for you to listen to and experience the conversations you are helping have in our community through your support.