We have come here today to talk about Female Genital Mutilation.” The speaker is His ExcellencyYoweri Museveni, President of Uganda. It is July 1, 2009; the President is addressing more than5,000 members of the Pokot and Sabiny communities, the only two groups in Uganda that practice Female Genital Cutting (FGM). Also present are ministers and parliamentarians from Uganda

and neighbouring Kenya, where the majority of the Pokot live. On this historic occasion, 300 Pokot girls will behonoured with certificates for not having been cut. The President has flown to the mountains of easternUganda on the occasion of the first annual Pokot Culture Day.

Mr. Museveni’s visit was the culmination of a20-year campaign to eradicate FGM launched byleaders of the Sabiny in the early 1990s. (There aresome 200,000 Sabiny and 6,000 Pokot in Uganda.Nearly 260,000 more Pokot live across the borderin Kenya, as do a smaller number of Sabiny.) Aneven more important milestone in the campaign wasreached on March 17, 2010, when the Presidentsigned the Prohibition of Female Genital MutilationAct, Uganda’s first national law specifically ban-ning all types of FGM. It provides that anyone car-rying out or facilitating FGM, including circumcisers(those who perform the procedure), parents or oth-ers, is subject to up to five years in prison. If girldies as a result of the procedure, those involved canbe imprisoned for life.

While passing a law against FGM is a majorvictory, the law in itself by no means guaranteesthat everyone will automatically stop practicing FGMin this part of the country, where a strong sense oftradition underpins community identity. By custom,the Pokot circumcise girls between the ages of 9and 14 every year from July through September;the Sabiny do so in December during even-num-bered years, such as 2010. With the new law in placeand the support of the President and other nationalleaders, the campaign to educate these communi-ties about the serious health consequences of FGM,and to train members of the police and judiciary inhow to enforce the new law, is gathering momen-tum–supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF JointProgramme on FGM.

“We know that the process of getting peopleto abandon FGM requires a multi-pronged ap-proach,” says Brenda Malinga, UNFPA NationalProgramme Officer for Gender in Uganda. “Thelaw is just one of the facilitating factors. Now weare disseminating information about the new law,

and, through education, we shall continue to em-power the communities to say no to FGM.”

From the beginning, a key aspect of this multi-pronged approach to ending FGM in Uganda hasbeen a respect for local cultural traditions and acommitment to preserving customs that are benefi-cial to local communities–in other words, identify-ing and upholding positive aspects of indigenousculture while fighting harmful ones. An annualSabiny Culture Day was established in 1996 to pro-mote the positive aspects of Sabiny culture. Seeingthis, the Pokot lobbied to have their own CultureDay, and the President’s visit in 2009 marked thefirst such occasion.

In his speech, which was reported in the na-tional press and broadcast on Ugandan radio andtelevision, President Museveni approached the for-merly taboo subject of FGM in a frank, non-judg-mental way. Praising the ancient culture of the Pokotpeople, he explained that modern science has re-vealed that some venerable customs are not, in fact,beneficial, as previously believed, but are actuallyharmful. He likened abandoning FGM to adoptingmodern improvements such as wearing eyeglassesor boiling (pasteurizing) milk before drinking it. Heexplained that FGM can cause life-threatening com-plications in childbirth, both for mothers and babies.“You say that FGM is culture,” said the President.“Yes, it is culture, but it is culture that was based oninsufficient information.… If we find that we weredoing something that is, in fact, very dangerous, onlybecause we did not have enough information, thenwe stop doing it.”

THE LONG ROAD TO A NATIONAL LAW

The process leading up to passage of the FGMlaw in Uganda involved the commitment and lead-

UGANDA LAW BARS GENITAL CUTTINGTRIBAL ELDERS’ ADVOCACY IS THE KEY

ership of a number of key individuals at thegrassroots level. The story offers useful lessons forother countries striving to eradicate FGM. “Whatexcites us,” says Brenda Malinga of UNFPA, “isthat this was not a top-down approach; it was abottom-up approach.”

It began in 1988, when members of the Sabinycommunity became concerned that their cultural val-ues were eroding because a growing number of girlshad been avoiding genital cutting. “The fathers of thesegirls were enlightened,” says Beatrice Chelangat, co-ordinator of REACH, an organization supported byUNFPA. “Every two years during cutting season, thesefathers took their daughters for refuge to nearby dis-tricts where FGM is not practiced.” The girls mothersprobably acquiesced to this arrangement.

To determine the extent of Sabiny support forFGM, the local district councilof Kapchorwa, led by elder Pe-ter Kamuron, commissioned astudy on public attitudes towardFGM in 1988. When the studyrevealed that most people didsupported the practice, the coun-cil voted 20 to five in favour ofa resolution making FGM man-datory. While not legally binding, the resolutionempowered and encouraged the community to ha-rass young women who had avoided cutting andto pressure them into submitting to the procedure.“These were no longer girls,” explains Ms.Chelangat. “By this time they were married women–some even held important positions–but they werestill called girls because they hadn’t undergone theritual. So the community felt that they needed tobe cut. They believed that if you have not under-gone FGM, you remain a girl forever.” Amongboth the Pokot and Sabiny, tradition stigmatized un-cut females and, among other things, barred themfrom engaging in everyday tasks, such as milking acow or repairing a house.

With FGM endorsed by the resolution, the un-cut adult daughters of the five dissenting councilmembers traveled to Kampala with their fathers toseek the intervention of the central government,which they expected to be sympathetic to theircause. In response, the Minister of Gender and theMinister of Local Government, who happened to bea Sabiny, flew to Kapchorwa to discuss the nega-tive implications of the resolution with the commu-nity leaders. The following year, Peter Kamuron andthe district council rewrote the resolution, making

“The process of getting people toabandon FGM requires a multi-pronged approach. The law is justone of the facilitating factors.” BrendaMalinga, UNFPA National ProgrammeOfficer for Gender

FGM optional for adults aged 18 and above.(Kamuron has since become a staunch opponent ofFGM and a human rights activist.)

“Considering the level of knowledge in the com-munity, it was not possible for the council to abolishFGM outright,” says Ms. Chelangat. “So the nearestthing was to make it optional.”

ATTACKING FGM ON MANY FRONTS

But the original dissenting elders on the coun-cil would not give up on their objective of an un-qualified rejection of FGM. They decided they hadto work to change local attitudes and convictionsabout FGM and other issues. In 1992, they estab-lished the Sabiny Elders Association under the lead-ership of George William Cheborion. (With his

daughter Jessica, Mr. Cheborianhad been part of the group thathad traveled to Kampala fouryears before.) The association’sgoal has been to preserve cul-tural practices that are benignand that promote human rights,such as story-telling, proverbs,community celebrations, mar-

riage ceremonies and traditional foods, while elimi-nating practices “that are brutal and dehumanizesome sections of the community.” [1] These latterpractices included not only FGM and related taboosbut traditions such as widow inheritance and revengekillings. The Elders Association also vowed to pro-mote education, especially for girls, and to protectthe environment.

In order to mount an effective campaign to stopFGM, the Sabiny Elders needed financial resourcesand technical support. They approached PresidentMuseveni through their fellow Sabiny the Ministerof Local Government, and the receptive Presidentcontacted UNFPA. In 1996 UNFPA, in collabora-tion with the Sabiny Elders Association and the Popu-lation Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance,launched the Reproductive, Educative and Commu-nity Health Project (REACH) based in Kapchorwa.One of REACH’s first actions was to establishSabiny Culture Day, now in its 15th year.

“REACH’s goal was to facilitate change,” saysMs. Chelangat, “and the change agents were theElders. Most of us on the REACH staff had just

[1] Implementation of Interventions to Eliminate Female Geni-tal Cutting, UNFPA Uganda 2007

left university, so it was difficult for us to communi-cate with the common man in the villages. So weasked the Elders–the people who are listened to andwho are influential–to move around the villages,speak about local problems with the people and dis-cuss possible solutions.” As a result of thisadvocacy work, in 1998 the Elder GeorgeCheborian received UNFPA’s annualPopulation Award for his leadership inworking to abolish FGM. UNFPA contin-ued to support REACH until 2006, when itbecame part of the UNFPA-UNICEF JointProgramme on FGM.

Another active partner in the cam-paign was the Hon. Dr. Yekko JohnArapkissa, today a Member of Parliamentfor Kapchorwa. For many years startingin 1978 he had been the only medical doc-tor serving the Sabiny and Pokot commu-nities in Uganda. Working with REACH,he developed a package of pictorial mate-rials that explained the painful and poten-tially dangerous health consequences ofFGM for mothers and babies, such as therisk of infection and the fact that womenwho have been cut are often unable to de-liver a baby because of scar tissue. Manyhave to be cut again during childbirth,sometimes with fatal consequences. Formany years Dr. Arapkissa traveled aroundthe villages sharing this kind of informa-tion with people.

Nevertheless, despite some progressin changing attitudes about FGM, between1998 and 2002 there was a backlash in thecommunity. Still worried that the local cul-ture was being eroded by these and otherreform efforts, a number of influentialSabiny–professors, magistrates, local gov-ernment leaders, agricultural officers and

teachers–actually formed a pro-FGM group to coun-teract messages from the Elders and REACH. Dur-ing the “cutting season” in December 1998, they con-tributed enough money to give 50,000 Ugandan shil-lings (about US $23) to every family who agreed tohave a daughter cut, along with a woman’s sarong anda calendar. That year, the number of girls cut nearlydoubled, from 544 in 1996 to 1,100 in 1998. The par-ticipation of individuals who were well educated clearlysuggests that they were defending Sabiny identitymore than FGM per se. In a rapidly changing world,there are people everywhere who feel that theircultural identities–indeed, their collective sense ofself–are under threat.

An important lesson was learned from the set-back in Uganda. It had become clear that in addi-tion to sensitivity toward local culture and persua-

“We asked the Elders, thepeople who are listened to,who are influential, to movearound the villages, speakabout local problems with thepeople and discuss possiblesolutions.” Beatrice Chelangat,REACH Coordinator

sion, the campaign against FGM had to be bolsteredby some kind of legal framework. In 2000, REACHand the Sabiny Elders Association once again peti-tioned the district council to prohibit FGM. The coun-cil refused, saying, “This is our culture. Let it beoptional. Those who are cowards–let them refuseFGM. But those who are brave Sabiny and Pokotgirls–let them continue with FGM!” “So,” Ms.Chelangat recalls, “we had to go back to the draw-ing board and come up with another strategy.”

THE LAW GAINS MOMENTUM

In 2004 REACH and theSabiny Elders contacted an organi-zation called Law and Advocacy forWomen in Uganda (LAW Uganda)and asked them to draft a documentannunciating the principles underly-ing a law that would prohibit genitalcutting. In 2005, 100 communityleaders from the 16 sub-counties ofKapchorwa district petitioned localauthorities to enact a bylaw based on the LAWUganda draft. It passed in 2006. UNFPA, LAWUganda and the Kapchorwa district council then gota district level ordinance prohibiting FGM passed in2008. “This gave us a strong stepping stone to reachthe Parliament and pass the national law,” saysBeatrice Chelangat.

The Joint Programme then helped to arrangea meeting between President Museveni, the eldersof the Sabiny and Pokot, REACH staff and medicalpersonnel on June 29, 2009. Some 40 people attendedand the meeting lasted for about four hours. “We wereable to convince the President of the need for a law,”says Brenda Malinga of UNFPA. “He asked ques-tions about FGM and maternal and child health: Doesit actually increase maternal mortality? The doctorsexplained how that happens. That’s how the Presi-dent used this information later in his speech.”

In the past, Ms. Malinga notes, PresidentMuseveni had occasionally touched on the issue ofFGM, but he had not discussed it in depth becausehe thought it should be left up to the communitieswho practiced it. “But now we came to him withdemands from the communities themselves,” shesays. “This wasn’t the Minister of Gender or theMinister of Health talking to him, this was the Sabinyand Pokot elders saying, ‘No, we don’t want thisthing to continue and we need a law to help us withour campaign.”

Two days later, on Pokot Culture Day, thePresident spoke out against FGM to the Pokot andSabiny communities and to all of Uganda via radioand television. Four months later, in November 2009,the Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, Deputy Speaker of Par-liament, was the guest of honour on Sabiny CultureDay. At that time, the Sabiny Elders Association, whichhad already been in discussions with the Ministersof Gender, Health, and Finance, asked Mrs. Kadagato formally propose in Parliament a national law pro-hibiting FGM–based on LAW Uganda drafts–and

secure funds to educate people aboutsuch a law.

She did so and the Prohibitionof Female Genital Mutilation Act be-came law in March, 2010, along witha pledge by the Government ofUganda to provide about US $90,000to disseminate information about thenew law. The Ministry of Gender,with support from UNFPA, hasdrafted a Training of Trainers manualdesigned to prepare community fa-

cilitators to carry out dialogues about FGM at thegrassroots level. In due course, 100 community fa-cilitators will fan out to conduct community dialoguesin five target districts.

With support from UNFPA, LAW Uganda is nowproducing a booklet of pictograms about the law forpeople who cannot read English. LAW Uganda willalso support law enforcement officers, prosecutors,paralegals and judges in the 16 Kapchorwa sub-coun-ties in the enforcement of the new law.

PROTECTING GIRLS FROM BEING CUT

A key partner in the anti-FGM efforts is theChurch of Uganda’s Pokot Zonal Integrated Devel-opment Programme (POZIDEP). It was POZIDEPthat had protected the 300 Pokot girls who hadavoided FGM and received certificates on PokotCulture Day in 2009. Working with local leaders dur-ing the Pokot cutting season (July to September),POZIDEP finds out which girls are about to be cir-cumcised and meets with their parents to explainthe health consequences of FGM for mothers andbabies. The organization then monitors these girlsevery two weeks to make sure they are not cut.“We also carries out intensive community sensitiza-tion on the health risks of circumcision,” explainsPOZIDEP’s Apollo Bakan. “Many young men nowunderstand the problems caused by FGM: for ex-

“These girls are nowpeople’s wives without beingcircumcised. Some of themhave produced babies. Theirhusbands appreciate the factthat at delivery more cuttingis not necessary.” ApolloBakan, POZIDEP

ample, contracting HIV because one knife may beused to cut many girls. As a result, some men havedecided to marry uncircumcised girls.”

Last year’s 300 girls also received training inalternative rites of passage: they learned that, con-trary to local beliefs, they can still be good wiveswithout being cut and their parents can still receivegifts of cattle at their weddings. One year later, ac-cording to Mr. Bakan, a number of these girls havein fact been married and some have already givenbirth. “They are now people’s wives without beingcircumcised,” he says triumphantly. “Some of themhave produced babies. Their husbands are happy;they appreciate the fact that at delivery more cut-ting is not necessary.” The husbands also told himthat girls who have not been cut are more respon-sive during sex.

As of August 2010, POZIDEP has protectedanother 48 girls from being cut. But also in August,eight other girls were taken across the border into

[2] A similar legal prohibition against genital cutting is expectedto be enacted in Kenya in late 2010 or early 2011.

Kenya to be circumcised, because now Uganda hasa law against the practice.[2] Since the law passedlast March, POZIDEP has been going into villagesaccompanied by the police. “The police explain thata law now exists,” says Mr. Bakan. “They say, ‘Wehave the law on the ground. So if you continue cir-cumcising girls, the law will come for you.’”

The long campaign to stamp out genital cuttingin Uganda is a striking example of how patient, step-by-step action at the community level–supportedeventually at the highest levels of government–canresult in major change. But victory is not yet com-plete: some Ugandans will surely try to circumventthe new law. Those who do so out of ignorance can,in time, be educated. More difficult to win over willbe those who support FGM not necessarily becauseof the practice itself (a few may actually disapproveof it) but because they resent and fear “outsiders”trying to alter their culture, traditions and customs.