By Rachel Wine

On March 8th, 2024, UNICEF released Female Genital Mutilation: A Global Concern, a new report with updated data on the global prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Compared to data released eight years ago, this reveals a 15% increase in the practice; survivors now number at 230 million. Data in the report also indicates slow progress to ending FGM/C, with a lag behind the population overall, and stagnation in some countries. One such country, The Gambia, recently voted to repeal its ban on FGM/C. The report asserts that, “though the pace of progress is picking up, the rate of decline would need to be 27 times faster to meet the target of eliminating female genital mutilation by 2030.”

While this report advances our understanding of FGM/C as a global practice and provides more relevant data for our work to end FGM/C, it is worth noting that Asian countries like India and Indonesia, and Middle Eastern countries like Pakistan and Iran are missing entirely. With the absence of this crucial data, we have no way of knowing the full scope of this harmful practice. This can be attributed to a lack of governmental support, as well as inadequate funding.

Sahiyo recently participated in an event that draws attention to the lack of adequate funding in the FGM/C sphere, of which the real obstacles in our effects to enact change can be seen in this report. “From Rhetoric to Reality: Closing the Funding Gap to End FGM/C”, a parallel event at the 68th U.N. Commission on the Status of Women meetings, was hosted by The Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C in partnership with the United States Mission to the United Nations on March 15th.

The Global Platform For Action to End FGM/C led the charge at the 2023 Women Deliver Conference to acknowledge the harms of insufficient funds in the work to end FGM/C. According to a Joint Letter by the Global Platform:

“By investing $2.4 billion by 2030 we could end FGM/C altogether in 31 priority countries. There is also a need to expand funding beyond the 31 countries which have national prevalence data on the practice; and provide funding for anti-FGM work in countries which have not traditionally been prioritized, including in Asia and the Middle East. Yet only $275 million in development assistance is available leaving a funding gap of >$2.1 billion; and these funds are not available proportionately across all countries where FGM/C is known to take place.” 

This statement certainly manifests in the data of the UNICEF report. 

In collaboration with hundreds of activists, grassroots organizations, international NGOs and academics who gathered at the Women Deliver 2023 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, the Global Platform has created the Kigali Declaration to call for an increase and shift of funding to grassroots organizations, and a convening of a Global Summit for increased commitments and investments. You can sign onto the Declaration here, and join the growing number calling to #closethefundinggap. 

On February 23rd, Sahiyo had the opportunity to talk to students at the Townview High School Career Fair in Dallas, Texas. Our Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Coordinator, Aries Nuno, provided information about Sahiyo’s mission to end FGC and offered a glimpse into the workings of NGOs.

The event allowed us to educate students about the impact of FGC and the importance of community involvement in addressing such issues. We presented various ways for students to contribute to this cause, including volunteering with organizations like ours, participating in educational initiatives about FGC, and encouraging conversations about the practice in their circles.

It was encouraging to see how interested students were in learning more about social issues and how they can be part of the solution. We appreciate the chance to have been part of this career fair and talk to young individuals about making a difference through NGO work.

We thank the staff and students of Townview High School for welcoming us and look forward to future opportunities to engage with the community.

Whether in-person or online, if you are interested in inviting Sahiyo to your next career fair, community event, or classroom to talk about our work and how to get involved, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

From July 26 - July 28th, 2024, Sahiyo U.S. will host its 8th annual Activists Retreat virtually via Zoom. Sahiyo hosts an annual Activist Retreats to bring anti-FGC activists together in a safe space and discuss the issue of female genital cutting, in an effort to collaboratively work towards ending the practice. Since 2018, over 85 people have participated in the retreat. Participants of the retreat are people speaking out against FGC — who work either publicly or anonymously — to raise community awareness about the need to end this harmful practice. Survivors, activists and anyone committed to ending FGC and interested in learning more about the issue is welcome to apply!

More about the retreat: 

When: The virtual sessions will take place via Zoom on the following dates and times:

Friday, July 26 - 5 to 6:30 pm PST/ 8 to 9:30 pm EST (1.5 hrs)

Saturday, July 27  - 8 am to 1:00 pm PST/ 11 am to 4:00 pm EST (5 hrs)

Sunday, July 28 - 8 am to 10:30 am PST/ 11 am to 1:30 pm EST (2.5 hrs)

Who: The workshop is open to anyone residing in North America. Survivors of FGC, advocates working to end the practice and the general public interested in learning more about anti-FGC work are invited to attend. Previously relegated to South Asian populations only, this year the workshop will include members from Asian Pacific Islander communities as well as other groups.

What: The 3-day retreat will include educational sessions on FGC and anti-FGC advocacy workshops, speaker presentations, self-care activities for activists and discussions to educate participants about FGC and how to better advocate to bring an end to this practice. The retreat will aim to achieve the following goals:

• Create a support system among activists working to empower their community to abandon FGC 
• Develop a safe space for individuals to learn more about the issue of FGC
• Build individuals' overall capacity to engage in activism, including sharing knowledge, resources, and networks 

Following the workshop, Sahiyo will support activists in their anti-FGC efforts and help them sustain post-retreat engagement as part of our ongoing education and advocacy work to end FGM/C.

If you’re interested in taking part, please fill out Activists Retreat 2024 Interest Form by Saturday, June 1, 2024. We also invite you to visit our website to read reports from past retreats and learn more about the program.

If you have any questions and would like more information about the retreat, please feel free to reach out to Samman at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Thank you to everyone who participated in Sahiyo's 2nd annual Women's Day Celebration & Silent Auction! We are truly grateful for the show of support. With the help of our incredible donors and supporters, we raised over $13K. 

Our five-day celebration of women’s voices began on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, by opening our virtual auction stacked with some incredible donations from our supporters. Then we enjoyed a fun and interactive virtual live comedy show featuring incredible comedians, Zahra Noorbakhsh, Weyam Ghadbian, Pallavi Gunalan, and Mita Patel. Throughout the rest of the week, we highlighted talented women by sharing their gifts of inspiration, poetry, artwork, and much more on our social media platforms. 

We are especially appreciative of our sponsors who helped make this event possible: WeSpeakOut, Raziudin & Latifa Moosajee, and Tabassum Zalotrawala.

Save the date for Sahiyo’s 3rd annual fundraising event which will be held March 5 - 9, 2025! Visit our website for more information or to sign up today.

On March 18th, Sahiyo in partnership with RTI International hosted a virtual community forum to discuss the role of community engagement in prevention efforts to raise awareness on FGM/C and support communities impacted by it. Speakers included Mariya Taher, Samman Masud, Wonder Guannu, and Breanne Lash. Throughout the webinar, speakers uplifted their organization’s examples of effective outreach and education through various engagement strategies with individuals and communities impacted by FGM/C. 

Overall, the session provided a platform for sharing diverse case studies and illustrating real-world examples of community engagement in this field. These discussions delved into the intricacies of building partnerships, mobilizing resources, influencing systems, and sustaining community and individual-level involvement to improve the well-being of those affected by FGM/C. 

During the webinar Sahiyo and RTI announced their to-be-released Survivor and Community Engagement Toolkit that aims to provide guidance on best practices for outreach to FGM/C-impacted communities. The information inside the toolkit is largely informed and guided by the insights of this webinar’s panelist, in addition, to other real-life examples shared by U.S.-based community organizations actively involved in combating FGM/C.

“I believe they don't really know what it is and how it is conducted, the procedures, and the negative impact that it has… It will be easy to say ‘don’t ban FGM’ when you don’t know what happened in there.” 

In S Danso’s country, men are working in Parliament to repeal the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM). However, S feels that her story of undergoing FGM and its impact will make those who wish to perform FGM on their loved ones reconsider. She felt it was important to be a part of the growing number of voices raised against FGM, and the Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling workshop provided an opportunity to do so on an international level.

When asked why she wanted to attend the workshop and share her story of FGM, S’s answer was clear: raising awareness. She chose to tell the story of her experience undergoing the cut, with exact details of the ceremony and circumcision that are not well known. 

“If you are educating people, it is important to get right to the point.”

The Voices to End FGM/C workshop was also impactful to S in multiple ways, as she learned from the other participants, who came from different parts of the world. In particular, other survivors talked about how to deal with the “post-FGM whatsoever.”

“Things happen and you don’t know how to deal with it,” S explains of her experience as a survivor. However, people at the workshop “explained their healing process” as well as “how to do advocacy work and better convey [a] message to the people.”

“Hearing their stories… has motivated me to come up and give out my story. I feel so empowered and confident hearing all of their stories.”

S’s workshop experience represents that there is power in numbers, and in creating safe spaces where survivors can come together to share, to heal, and to advocate for change. 

S Danso is a Gambian National and a legal practitioner with over eight years of experience in community work and activism focusing on equality, inclusion and social justice. Currently, she is the secretary-general of One African Women’s Forum, an international organization that focuses on promoting women’s rights based in Nigeria. Sirra has impressed all with her warmth, wisdom, and kindness, but above all, her intellectual curiosity and a keen interest in social justice and equality remain exceptional.