Interfaith religious leaders partner with government, rights groups to end FGM

Rev. Fr. Joseph Mutie (right) Chair, Inter Religious Council of Kenya Mustafa Genc, Executive Director, Harmony Institute award pupils of Wami Academy ,South B,Nairobi after emerging 1st runners up in the schools category during inter religious Anti FGM Festival at the Church of Latter Saints, Upper Hill Nairobi . September 9,2023. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Faith community leaders in the country have come together in collaboration with the government and rights lobby groups to champion the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

The religious leaders swore to strongly add their voice in shunning FGM, a practice they described as a cult.

"As a faith community we are coming together to say no to FGM, sensitising communities that we do not want to see the girls mutilated," said Rev. Joseph Mutie, chair of the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK).

He spoke on Saturday alongside his colleagues, during drama festivals held to create FGM awareness at the Church of Latter Saints in Nairobi.

The event that represented the climax of the arts festivals saw Marhab Girls Secondary from Kajiado and Wami Academy awarded winner and runner's up respectively.

Mary Magubo of Ministry of Health, Reproductive Division, affirmed the government's commitment to end female circumcision by strengthening implementation strategies of reproductive policies.

She said the Ministry of Health has published reproductive books to help adolescents and parents understand the dangers of FGM as one of the many strategies to create awareness of FGM.

"As a government, we have provided tools, some booklets for the adolescents and for parents on how they should be able to communicate with their children on issues to do with reproductive health and also to understand their role as parents," stated Magubo.

In 2019, former president Uhuru Kenyatta enacted the Prohibition of FGM Act, 2011 which became a key milestone in the campaign against FGM in the country.

Abdiraham Ismael, Executive Director IRCK lauded the initiative by the faith community to eradicate the FGM practice which he termed as "ridiculous."

According to Harmony Institute Executive Director Mustafa Genc, religious leaders are engaging with communities that still embrace the culture of circumcising girls as a way of socially ending the practice from the roots.

Fight against FGM has taken shape in the last decade in the country, with rights and health lobby groups, government agencies and now inter-faith community getting into the ring to stop the cultural practice.