Donor Working Group meeting and pre-meeting in Pretoria, South Africa

At the end of October, End FGM EU met with its global partners in Pretoria for three days of exchange during the Donors Working Group annual meeting, strengthening collaboration and advancing the global movement to end female genital mutilation.

The Network was represented by our lead of Policy and Advocacy, Xheni Dani, and Co-President Aminata Sidibe.  During day 1 and 2, we engaged with our partners in the pre-DWG meeting sessions. The focus of these two days of exchange was “Movement-Building and Strategy to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Africa”.

The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) pre-meeting brought together regional and international stakeholders, including CSOs, survivor advocates, youth leaders, and development partners. The two-day convening aimed to strengthen collaboration among key partners, reflect on previous actions, share best practices, and design strategic pathways to accelerate the elimination of FGM across Africa.  

On day 3, we joined the annual meeting of the Donors Working Group (DWG) to end female genital mutilation, hosted by the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria, SIDA and UNICEF, which serves as a secretariat for the DWG.  As the only regional Network existing for over 10 years, and having been a key partner of UNICEF as civil society representatives for Donors over the past years, End FGM EU spoke on behalf of other regional networks, highlighting the key successes, challenges and lessons learned for every context. The main aim of this meeting was to support the establishment of the End FGM/C Africa Network, sharing relevant experiences and strengthening our cooperation across continents and sectors, to ensure we build collectively on what we have, choosing collaboration over duplication.  

The resolve and collaboration among governments, donors, regional institutions such as African Union, and civil society in the meeting reaffirmed a shared message that now is the time to unite, invest, and act boldly so that every girl and woman can live free from violence.