Frontline activists and leaders in the fight against female genital mutilation, which has affected more than ۲۳۰ million women and girls worldwide, have welcomed an unprecedented $۱۵.۵m (£۱۱.۴m) fund aimed at creating “unstoppable momentum” to finally end the practice.
The launch of the fund comes as women’s rights are increasingly under attack and donor funding is in sharp decline, particularly for work led by FGM survivors in local communities. It is thought to be the largest single philanthropic contribution to ending the practice of FGM.
The United Nations has set a goal of elimination by by ۲۰۳۰, but progress is not on track as funding declines and legal protections are challenged.
Funding received by the largest initiative to end the practice – a joint programme operated in ۱۸ countries by the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, and the UN humanitarian organisation for children, Unicef – fell by ۴۵% last year, from $۲۹.۶m to $۱۶.۳m.
The Her Horizon Fund has been seeded with $۱۴m from the Wallace Global Fund, plus an additional $۱.۵m contribution from an anonymous donor, making $۱۵.۵m in total.
The aim of Her Horizon Fund, set up by the US-based Wallace Global Fund, is to pool $۱۰۰m from donors to reach a “tipping point” towards ending FGM within a generation.
Ifrah Ahmed, a Somali-Irish activist and survivor of FGM who set up the Ifrah Foundation to end practice in Somalia, where it is nearly universal, said: “By giving $۱۴m, the global fund will ensure activists can continue their work in this area.”
UN funding worth $۳۰۰,۰۰۰ to her organisation was cut by UNFPA last year, but Ahmed managed to raise money from elsewhere. The Ifrah Foundation has helped push for anti-FGM legislation in Somalia, she said.
Three of Somalia’s seven federal member states have enacted anti-FGM laws, while in two other states bills banning the practice have been endorsed by cabinet and are awaiting parliamentary approval, albeit with opposition by religious leaders in some areas.
“If we don’t continue to raise money, the dream where this practice will end will have died for young girls,” she added.
Advocates warn that while international recognition of FGM as a human rights violation has grown, and countries such as Burkina Faso, the Gambia and Kenya have criminalised the practice, progress remains fragile.
In recent years, survivors and frontline groups have been trying to protect gains made over several decades.
The Gambia’s supreme court, for instance, is considering a constitutional challenge to the country’s ۲۰۱۵ ban on female genital mutilation and cutting. The case follows a ۲۰۲۴ parliamentary effort to repeal the ban, which lawmakers rejected after months of debate, amid strong resistance from women’s rights groups. In Sierra Leone, the new Child Rights Act does not prohibit FGM, despite sustained campaigning from rights groups.
Susan Gibbs, the Wallace Global Fund’s senior adviser on women’s rights and FGM, said: “Female genital mutilation is a global crisis, an extreme manifestation of gender-based violence and violence against children, and a public health emergency.
“There has been decades of progress, and UN data indicates declines in prevalence in a number of countries. But there have also been anti-rights pushback and political crises. Obviously, donor funding is in decline. So it’s a mixed picture.”
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She added: “We’re at this critical inflection point. Most frontline organisations have been absolutely starved for resources, and so more direct funding would allow them to sustain and scale [up] their work.”
Gibbs, who attended a Justice for Girls global gathering in Kenya earlier this month, where the fund was officially launched, said the momentum at the meeting was “incredible”.
“Lasting change must be led by the frontline – it cannot be imposed from the outside. Frontline survivors, activists, they know their communities and they know what it will take. They must have the resources and power to lead.
“I’m convinced the impact [of the fund] will be catalytic,” she said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that with adequate funding, these frontline activists have what it takes to get this done.”
FGM is the partial or total removal of female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It has been endured by more than ۱۴۴ million women and girls in Africa, ۸۰ million in Asia and ۶ million in the Middle East. The practice can cause immediate health complications such as severe pain, excessive bleeding and infection, as well as long-term consequences that include complications during childbirth, chronic pain and lasting psychological trauma.
A ۲۰۲۵ study estimated that FGM causes approximately ۴۴,۰۰۰ deaths each year in the ۱۵ countries examined, making it one of the leading causes of death for women and girls in those countries.
