Third Exchange Meeting in Berlin

CHANGE Agents im Austausch. Foto: © TERRE DES FEMMES Photo: © TERRE DES FEMMES On March 31, 2017 the CHANGE Agents in Berlin got together for their third exchange meeting. Dr. Idah Nabateregga and Charlotte Weil from TERRE DES FEMMES (TDF) reported about the new developments within the CHANGE Plus project and the FGM department at TDF in general. Thereafter, the CHANGE Agents shared thoughts and ideas about their behaviour change activities, which they are preparing and planning this year.

Fadhumo Musa Afrah, who already conducted her three activities within the Somali communities, shared her insights (Read the report). Fadhumo noted that mobilizing community members to participate in discussions on FGM/C is the biggest challenge. On this note and to face this challenge, the CHANGE Agents exchanged ideas about ways to approach the topic within their respective communities, which included

  1. Making FGM/C the central topic of and the reason for a meeting
  2. Introducing FGM/C under the umbrella of children’s or human rights
  3. At a general get-together, the topic can also be introduced under traditional harmful practice talks

These approaches are meant not to deter people from joining a discussion on this (taboo-) topic. Important to note is that approaches will differ from community to community.

The upcoming weeks and months will be filled with many behaviour change activities. By increasing the knowledge of FGM/C and its effects and by initiating open discussions within the communities the CHANGE Agents aim at inducing change in attitude and behaviour towards the total abandonment of FGM/C.

 

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