The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) draws its foundations from ancestral tradition. It constitutes a socially prescribed rule of behaviour. For this reason, families carry on this practice with the belief that this is what society expects of them. By not respecting this social rule, they suffer social sanctions such as marginalisation, exclusion from marriage or loss of social status. This practice is extremely dangerous, and women can suffer dangerous consequences for their entire lives.

The ATOZ foundation supports Fondation Follereau in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation in the province of Tuy. This project aims to help over 99 designated villages. Targets of this project are from all villages in the area, from children, adolescents, to sterilized women, but also representatives of public communities and religious leaders. That means that there will be 6,095 direct beneficiaries and more than 330,000 indirect beneficiaries taking into account the chain effect of these actions at all levels of society.

This project aims to:

1) Put preventative and educative measures in place (talks, debates, theatres, teacher training, health professionals). Collective awareness and education will allow a change in behaviour and the abandonment of this practice.

2) Put medical and social care in place for the women suffering from the after-effects of this procedure.

3) Promote women’s rights and compensation for the after-effects of genital mutilation.

4) Monitor activities performed by the project and conduct a project audit.