Background
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a term used for partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs. Millions of girls and women have been subjected to this worldwide, but the great majority live in Sub-Saharan Africa. FGM affects women both physically and psychologically and causes both immediate and long-term health complications throughout the women’s lives.

About the project
This project was created to teach the health professionals working in Yecatit 12 hospital, in Addis Ababa, about the harmful effects of FGM. The health workers were trained on order to pass on their knowledge and information to the mothers delivering baby girls at the hospital, in the hope that they would choose not to subject their daughters to this practice. The project team and the head of the hospital department held a one-day training with the health workers, including topics like the background of FGM, the magnitude of the problem and the immediate and long-term complications it causes for women, for example during labour.

Results
734 mothers gave birth during the three month project implementation, out of which 50% were female. Before being discharged from the hospital, the mothers were always informed about family planning, vaccination, feeding and personal hygiene by a hospital nurse. After the project, FGM was included in these routine information sessions.

Year: 2006