Sola POPOOLA
Dennis Onoise, Child Protection Specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF ) Lagos Field Office, has said the global organization is partnering with relevant stakeholders towards ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by 2030.
Speaking at the sideline of a workshop organized by the Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF) ,with support UNICEF,Onoise underscored the importance of having information about the danger of FGM.
The workshop had in attendance stakeholders in Ekoti state including officials from the Ministry of Information, National Orientation Agency, Civil Society Organizations.Others were media professionals, security agencies
It focused on ethical, survivor-sensitive story documentation and content production.
The Child Protection Specialist disclosed that the organization is stepping up advocacy towards FGM abandonment.
“So,we encourage people, to encourage civil society groups to speak to their communities, to engage in the states where they work and enlighten people, first and foremost, to understand what it is.
“And that has gone on for years now. We will not be able to say it has not reduced in communities, because we have seen communities who said they have abandoned it.
So, abandonment is something that is ongoing and we are still talking to people.But what our issue is, is that the way it is being dealt with, the way we are seeing the reduction.’ Onoise said .
Adding : ‘We have worked with civil society groups in the Southwest in the last going to 10 years now to deal with the issue and problem of FGM. We realized that the challenge is basically around awareness, you know, that people don’t have information, people don’t know about FGM.
“They don’t know the dangers of FGM. They don’t know that FGM is something that creates problems for the female person.
We are not comfortable that if we continue the way we are going, that in 2030, we are not still going to have people, communities who practice FGM, who still cut their female child.
“Because FGM is a gender-based violence issue, so, that is why it should be a concern for everybody.
We’re not comfortable that a certain sex, a certain gender is given birth to and the gender is made not to be able to enjoy their body the way they should.
“What we know about FGM is that the female child who is cut is certainly not going to have a maximum experience like the other person who is not cut. So, that is why we are worried and that is why we said we should end it before 2030.
“It is our tradition that practices FGM, it our communities, it is the traditional people that need to be spoken to, even the survivors of FGM that are being trained, that are being talked to are asked to go back to their communities to stop the practice.” Onoise said .
Earlier in her opening remarks ,the Executive Director of BIGIF, Dr Tumininu Adedeji explained that adherence to ethical standards and delivering accurate reports are key to driving the social change in the society over the menace.
According to her, ” We all know that we still have local government areas still practicing FGM in Ekiti State which is why the state is having the highest percentage of prevalent in the South West.
” So, we have gathered the stakeholders here including security agencies to see how they can their platforms in advocating against FGM in Ekiti State.
” To equip participants with practical skills for producing responsible, accurate, and survivor-sensitive content that promotes advocacy, awareness, and positive social change without causing harm.” Akerele said
” Aside from that, to foster collaboration and develop a common framework among government institutions, media, and CSOs for ensuring ethical and survivor-sensitive approaches in story documentation and content production.”
In her presentation, a media professional, Feyisetan Adenitan Olufisoye advised media professionals and practitioners to be sensitive to the plights of the survivors while reporting the menace.
She noted reports relating to FGM and other gender-based violence should be factual and accurate with more emphasis on achieving social change in the society.