Hundreds of women, men and children gathered in a stadium in the Northern parts of Somalia in the early morning heat to witness a historic declaration: the collective abandonment of FGM by representatives from 20 communities. The event, attended and lauded by women’s activists, religious leaders and local goverment officials, was the culmination of over three years’ work by the international NGO Tostan and its local partner, the Somaliland Culture and Sports Association. The communities as true agents of change have talked to their neighbours, shared experiences and made an informed decision to uphold the rights of children and women.

A similar public declaration in October 2009 saw 14 communities from northeast Somalia also collectively proclaim their abandonment of FGM.

Waris Dirie: “A lot of Somalis contact Waris Dirie Foundation and we know that especially young people totally oppose this criminal practice. When there will be peace in Somalia, this process will increase dramatically. The biggest problem is that Somali children have no access to education, only 7 % of girls visit school and 13 % of the boys. Education is the key to stop FGM and to rebuild my country.”