CHAIN Project meeting in Berlin hosted by TERRE DES FEMMES

Building a European community network of activists - The CHAIN Community Trainers convene for their European Exchange Meeting in Berlin

TERRE DES FEMMES welcomed 27 Community Trainers and the project workers from the CHAIN partner organizations ActionAid Italia (Italy), Save a Girl Save a Generation (Spain) and Equipop (France) in Berlin on 21 May 2022. In order to build sustainable links between the activists from communities affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) and early and forced marriage (EFM) in different partner countries this meeting in person was essential - and a success!

After getting to know each other informally, the participants engaged in two rounds of discussions. They shared their experiences, challenges, and good practices from the work as Community Trainers in the CHAIN project. This included their activities of empowerment of affected diaspora communities and trainings for key professionals. Moreover, the exchange meeting aimed to build stronger ties among activists in order to facilitate the creation of a European community network against harmful practices such as FGM and EFM. This core aspect of the meeting generated many ideas and clearly demonstrated the motivation and commitment of the Community Trainers to remain active and connected beyond the CHAIN project, which will end in August 2022. Personal exchanges strengthened the participants in their engagement, enabled sharing knowledge and experiences and provided an incentive to continue the important sensitization work. The meeting was also a perfect occasion to recognize the invaluable work of the Community Trainers engaging in awareness-raising and advocacy on the ground and to express the project partners gratitude for their long-term commitment in the abandonment of FGM and EFM.