Zeinaba Mahr Aouad, a 24-year-old woman from Djibouti, remembers the day when, as a ten-year-old, an unexpected visitor came to her house: “She had a syringe, a razor blade and bandages.”
UNFPA supports awareness raising campaigns about FGM in Africa, including in Somalia (pictured).
Local networks
Zeinaba Mahr Aouad now works as a volunteer for a local network launched by UNFPA in 2021, which numbers over 60 women and provides support to local women’s health and rights activists.
She also visits underprivileged areas of Djibouti to raise awareness among young people and future parents, both women and men, of the harmful effects of FGM.
“Because it’s not just the woman who participates in these practices: without the agreement of the man by her side, it couldn’t be done”, she said.