© Orchid Project
SAFE Maa team wearing leso with caption reading ‘Zero Tolerance to FGM’. © Orchid Project
Blog
28 May 2021

An exchange visit inspires new ideas to drive community-led change

Author: Orchid Project
Published by: Orchid Project

When it comes to working towards ending female genital cutting (FGC), we know that community-led change, focused on shifting social and gender norms that perpetuate the practice, is the most effective means of bringing about collective abandonment. 

A deeply entrenched practice like FGC cannot be abandoned if whole communities, including men and boys, are not engaged in the process. Our partners in Kenya are making sure that is happening by creating space for dialogue and reflection between all community groups and providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to decide to end the practice for themselves. 

Orchid Project has embarked on a 3 year consortium programme with the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), S.A.F.E. Kenya and their SAFE Maa and SAFE Samburu teams to accelerate an end to FGC within the Maasai and Samburu communities in Kenya. While there are many overlapping themes in the approaches consortium partners use, COVAW and S.A.F.E. Kenya each bring a uniqueness to the delivery of their work...