Women leaders mobilise fresh strategy against FGM in Sebei subregion

Faced with the evolving and underground nature of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Uganda’s Sebei region, women leaders have launched a renewed strategy focused on curbing the practice.

A core component of this new approach is school-based engagement, targeting both girls and boys.

Leaders argue that schools are ideal platforms to influence the next generation, including boys who have often been sidelined in anti-FGM campaigns.

During a high-level dialogue at the Kween district headquarters on June 26, 2025, Priscilar Chelangat, the female youth councillor for Kween, emphasised the need to involve youth in dismantling harmful traditions like FGM and child marriage. She noted that advocacy has often excluded students, despite their potential to shape cultural norms.

Chelangat praised the renewed commitment of women leaders to re-evaluate progress since the 2010 Anti-FGM Act came into place.

Despite years of campaigns, she questioned why some girls still seek out FGM and why the practice persists underground and across the border.

She called for culturally informed, youth-centred approaches, particularly in border communities where enforcement remains weak.

Chelangat praised the renewed commitment of women leaders to re-evaluate progress since the 2010 Anti-FGM Act came into place. (Credit: Jeff Andrew Lule)

Education alone not enough

Drawing from her own experience, Chelangat said education alone isn't enough.

She noted that her parents’ moderate enlightenment shielded her from FGM, a privilege many children from illiterate households lack.

“In many remote families, cultural loyalty often means submitting to FGM with questioning,” she added.

She highlighted the importance of reaching communities where traditions are passed down unchallenged.

She noted that peer-led forums are also shifting attitudes among youth.

Leaders now plan to bring mothers who have experienced FGM into schools to share their stories and raise awareness.

FGM involves the partial or total removal or injury of female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it can lead to lifelong consequences, including chronic pain, infections, increased risk of HIV, anxiety, depression, childbirth complications, infertility and, in some cases, death from excessive bleeding.

The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2016 reported a drop in national FGM prevalence from 1.4% in 2011 to 0.3% in 2016, reflecting growing awareness and the impact of anti-FGM efforts.

In Uganda, FGM is practiced in six districts, particularly among the Pokots (Amudat district); the Tepeth (Moroto district); and the Kadama (Nakapiripit district) in Karamoja region and among the Sabiny people in the districts of Bukwo, Kween, and Kapchorwa in the Sebei sub-region.

It is commonly practiced on girls between the ages of 13 and 15.

Jocely Kissa, wife to the Sabiny cultural leader, stressed the role of clans as effective communication channels.

Previously underutilised, she said the structures will now be engaged more deliberately to ensure the message reaches the last person in the remote areas.

The dialogue was part of a wider initiative led by ActionAid International Uganda (AAIU) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), aimed at evaluating and renewing anti-FGM strategies.

The meetings held from June 23–26, 2025, in Kween and Bukwo which are considered the hotspots for FGM in Sebei sub region, brought together diverse stakeholders, elders, local leaders, youth, women’s groups, and male agents among others.

They all acknowledged that while the Anti-FGM Act has driven the practice underground, cross-border cutting remains a big challenge.

Through their discussions, participants agreed on bold measures: forming a women-led movement to combat FGM, child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and GBV; involving men to reduce stigma and promote equality; strengthening school-based awareness; revitalising clan and family structures for grassroots enforcement; and creating youth-friendly spaces for dialogue.

Kissa said the proposed women’s movement would scale up outreach and engagement, calling for inclusive programming that also brings boys and young men on board.

Francis Sam Ononge, AAIU project officer FGM for the Sebei and Karamoja sub-regions, said the forums also aimed to assess how male change agents are applying a gender transformative approach (GTA) to challenge inequality.

He emphasised the need for inclusive dialogue where everyone, regardless of gender or circumcision status, has a voice.

Ononge also revealed that some women are still subjected to FGM without consent, often during childbirth by traditional birth attendants or misinformed health workers. Others are lured across the border with false promises.

It was also noted that fear of retaliation often keeps these cases unreported, underscoring the need for community-wide involvement.

Some of the male agents attending a dialogue at Riwo Sub Country headquarters in Bukwo district. (Credit: Jeff Andrew Lule)

Fatina Chebet, head of the Child and Family Protection Unit in Bukwo District, confirmed that deep-rooted cultural norms and fear prevent victims and witnesses from reporting FGM and child marriage.

She shared a case where a 14-year-old girl was married off to an older man, but efforts to intervene were abandoned out of fear by the complainant.

She emphasised the need for stronger protection mechanisms, community sensitisation, and safe reporting systems, particularly in remote and border areas.

Elders join campaign

Sali Kamwasu, 83, an elder from Kapkutunyo, Riwo sub-county, said advocacy and male involvement have helped reduce FGM in his community. Although his wife was circumcised due to societal pressure, he chose a different path for his daughters after learning about the risks.

Now, he mobilises other men to protect girls’ rights.

Patrick Mutai, a 60-year-old clan leader from Kapsukut celle, Riwo town council, regrets not knowing the harms of FGM earlier and attributes lasting damage in his marriage to the practice.

Determined to prevent similar pain for others, he now advocates for education and change.

Festo Majinjach, programme co-ordinator of the Sabiny Transformative Initiative, noted that more men are rejecting outdated norms and defending the rights of women and girls.

He urged clan leaders and elders to take active roles in dismantling traditions that perpetuate FGM, unsafe abortions, and child marriages.

Despite a decline in FGM rates, Majinjach warned the practice continues in secrecy, especially in Kenyan border areas like Kachuriba and Mukutano.

He also criticised the current law’s requirement for witnesses to testify, which discourages reporting. He called for legal reforms to better protect whistleblowers.

Globally, over 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM, with the practice still common in at least 28 African countries, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, mainly in east and southern Africa.