UEFGM Officially Launches in Malta

The UEFGM (United to END FGM) European Knowledge Platform for Professionals Dealing with Female Genital Mutilation has officially launched in Malta as of the 3rd of February 2017. The transnational project is co-funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium of 12 partners and four associate partners across the European Union (EU).

The United to END FGM (UEFGM) knowledge platform builds on the United to End FGM e-learning tool for health and asylum professionals, funded by the END FGM Fund 2012 (END FGM European Campaign) and the Human Dignity Foundation, and supported by UNHCR. Initiated and coordinated by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) in Cyprus, in partnership with the Italian Association for Women in Development (AIDOS) in Italy, Akina Dada Wa Africa (AKIDWA) in Ireland and the Family Planning Association Portugal (APF).

In 2015, the European Commission granted the Cyprus University of Technology funding for a 24-month project to develop a European web-based knowledge platform on FGM to serve as an EU-wide multilingual information and educational resource centre, providing easily accessible and culturally appropriate information and support to professionals from diverse backgrounds across the EU, to effectively deliver victim support, raise awareness of FGM, and protect women and girls living with or at risk of FGM.

The UEFGM e-learning tool aims to raise awareness of and improve knowledge about FGM amongst health professionals and asylum officers working in Europe, including midwives, gynaecologists, paediatricians, nurses, health visitors, medical and nursing students, judges, asylum case and reviewing authority officers, asylum support-centre staff, police, child protection officers, social workers and related NGOs.

The platform, which is now live, will serve as an information and educational resource centre and offer easily accessible and culturally appropriate information .

It will:

• Support professionals to effectively deliver victim support, protection and prevention programmes
• Ensure targeted awareness-raising, preventing stigmatisation in the media and protecting women and girls living with or at risk of FGM
• Provide country-specific information on EU member states
• Incorporate a human rights approach based on culture- and gender-sensitive perspectives

To visit the official UEFGM web knowledge platform click here.