AFRUCA Anti FGM Champions

AFRUCA Anti FGM Youth Champions – A Youth Project to raise awareness of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and its impact amongst African Communities in Greater Manchester

Between November 2015 and February 2017, AFRUCA delivered a unique project involving young people in anti-FGM work. We recruited a team of 22 Anti FGM Youth Champions to be the voice against FGM in the African Community across Greater Manchester. The project was funded by Big Lottery Awards for all and the Department for Communities and Local Government.

All champions attended a two-day training course where they learnt about the types of FGM, the impact FGM has on people, the UK laws regarding FGM, public speaking and reporting an abuse of FGM.

The Champions were engaged in raising awareness about FGM in the communities. The champions ‘role was to speak openly about FGM and what we can do as a community to stop it and its impacts on women and girls.

The project was a success and we exceeded our expected target as we were able to reach over 1200 people in the face-to-face audience and over 6000 via television and radio interviews on Pendleton TV, Manchester TV, ALLFM radio, Peace and Joy FM, the Nubian Times and in the Mancunian Matters online newspaper with more than 10,000 viewers and readers.

All champions enjoyed the experience and said they will continue to speak against FGM to their communities and peers.

One champion M.J.M stated that “I have learnt so much about FGM and feel privileged and confident to speak out against it. I will campaign against it for life.”

The champions took part in radio, newspaper and TV programmes where the issue of FGM discussed. They also hosted events across Greater Manchester to enable dialogues and discussions between young people, parents and community elders on the subject.

The Champions events covered most of the FGM prevalence / presence communities in Greater Manchester covering Sudanese, Kenyan, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Congolese, Zimbabweans, Somalians and many more people.

The events took place in different boroughs of Greater Manchester including Salford, Tameside, Oldham, Manchester and Stockport in places of worship, youth centres and schools, community centres and AFRUCA Centre for African Children and Families Centre.