End FGM EU brought SAFE project partners together in Milan

On 26–27 June 2026, the SAFE project partners, Community Leaders and Community Experts gathered in Milan, Italy, for a two-day advocacy meeting organised by End FGM European Network, under the coordination of Queralt Perarnau, Senior Project Officer. This moment marked an important milestone in the project, bringing together Community Leaders and Community Experts from across Europe in person for the first time to exchange experiences, strengthen their advocacy skills, and develop national strategies to prevent female genital mutilation (FGM) and early and forced marriage (EFM).

The meeting reunited the six SAFE project partners: ActionAid Italy (Italy), AkiDwA (Ireland), End FGM European Network (Brussels), Equipop (France), Save a Girl Save a Generation (Spain) and TERRE DES FEMMES (Germany), one year after they first came together in Rome in June 2025 for the project's kick-off meeting. Since then, the partners have recruited and supported Community Leaders and Community Experts across five countries, who are now playing a key role in raising awareness, supporting communities and advancing advocacy to end FGM and early and forced marriage.

For many participants, this two days in Milan were the first opportunity to meet in person after months of collaborating online. The meeting created a valuable space for Community Leaders and Community Experts to get to know one another, share the activities they had been leading in their respective countries, exchange experiences and build stronger relationships across the SAFE project. These face-to-face discussions strengthened peer learning and reinforced the collective commitment to ending FGM and early and forced marriage EFM.

Building on the advocacy training delivered in April and June 2026, Xheni Dani, Senior Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at End FGM EU, led sessions exploring advocacy at both national and European levels, including discussions on the growing weaponisation of FGM in political discourse. Participants reflected on rights-based advocacy approaches to challenge harmful narratives while advancing the rights of women and girls. On the second day, Community Leaders and Community Experts worked in country groups to develop national advocacy plans tailored to their respective contexts. They identified key advocacy priorities, mapped target stakeholders and defined concrete actions to implement in their countries, further strengthening the collaboration that will continue throughout the remainder of the SAFE project.

Victor Verdier, Senior Communications Officer at End FGM EU, also represented the Network throughout the meeting, supporting the SAFE project's communication activities, as our Network coordinates the project's social media.

As the SAFE project reaches its halfway point, the Milan meeting demonstrated the value of bringing together community expertise, lived experience and advocacy. By creating space for collaboration, peer learning and strategic planning, it reinforced the project's commitment to building sustainable, community-led action to end FGM and EFM across Europe.

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