Led by ODI, in partnership with Plan International Mali, and funded by UNICEF Mali through the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, this project aims to contribute to the elimination of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage in Mali and beyond.
FGM/C and child marriage both constitute acts of gender-based violence and negatively affect the rights and development of girls and women. 650 million females alive today were married before the age of 18, with a further 12 million more facing the same fate each year. Over 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM/C, and every year 4 million more are at risk of being cut.
The rate of progress for reducing the number of child marriages and the number of girls and women who are cut has been painfully slow respite large investments in programmes to combat it. As a consequence, ODI, together with UNICEF, have conducted this in-depth, multipronged, research focusing on Mali - a country where 89% of girls and women are cut and where there has only been a 2% decrease in the last two decades.
This research, presented through a literature review, situation analysis report, baseline report, and toolkit, aims to address some of the core questions relating to how support for child marriage and FGM/C can be reduced.
