Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................................2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..........................................................................................................3

 

1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................4

1.2. Overview of COIN-FGM Prevention Program..............................................................5

1.3. Objective of the Capacity Assessment.............................................................................6

 

2.  METHODOLOGY OF THE ASSESSMENT......................................................................7

2.1. location of the study..........................................................................................................7

2.1.1. Agro-ecological Zone..................................................................................................7

2.1.2. District's Livelihood System......................................................................................7

2.1.3. Targeting villages........................................................................................................7

2.1.4. Method of Data collection Techniques......................................................................8

2.1.4.1. Primary data tools...................................................................................................8

2.1.4.2. Secondary data........................................................................................................9

2.2. Method of Data analysis...................................................................................................9

2.3. Sampling Techniques........................................................................................................9

 

3. FINDINGS OF THE ASSESSMENT....................................................................................12

3.1. Demographic information KII and FGD respondents..................................................12

3.1.2. KII respondents ‘marital status and Occupation....................................................13

3.1.3. Age composition of KII respondents.........................................................................13

3.1.4. The Occupation and Sex of FGD Respondents.........................................................13

3.2. The Current prevailing Social Norms of FGM Practice.................................................15

3.2.1. The Existing FGM Types and Reasons of Practice...................................................15

3.2.2. The level of awareness on FGM practices..................................................................16

3.2.3. Practice of Milder forms of FGM in the district........................................................17

3.2.4. Religion and Relation of FGM Practice......................................................................17

3.2.5. Perception of FGM on hygiene and praying..............................................................18

3.2.6. FGM Practice and control of girls ‘sexual .................................................................19

3.2.7. FGM practice and marriage relation..........................................................................20

3.2.8. The age of circumcised girls in the community..........................................................21

3.2.9. The Decision to Cut A Girl in the Community...........................................................21

3.2.10. The FGM Circumcizors in the community...............................................................22

3.3. The Perceptions of Future FGM Continuity......................................................................23

3.4. The level of Accessibility to FGM trainings........................................................................24

 

4. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................26

 

5. RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................................27

 

6. APPENDIX...................................................................................................................................29

6.1. list of names and addresses of FGDs respondents..............................................................29

6.2. list of names and addresses of KII respondents..................................................................31

6.3. Sample of pictures of respondents........................................................................................32

 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 

The Author would like to express sincere gratitude to all the individuals and institutions that contributed to the successful completion of this assessment report. This report presents the findings of an assessment of social norms prevailing in Shabeley district, Fafan zone, which was conducted as part of the Community Initiative (COIN) project. The COIN project is implemented by Generation for African Relief and Development Organization (GARAD), a non-governmental organization that strives to promote sustainable development and humanitarian assistance in Africa and funded by GIZ-Ethiopia country office.

I am grateful to GARAD organization’s project management unit for their technical and financial support throughout the survey process. I also appreciate the collaboration and cooperation of SRS-Bureau of women and children affairs and district office of women and children affairs, which provided me with valuable information on the subject matter.

I would also like to thank the respondents from Hadow, Amadle and Duhusha villages, who participated in the focus group discussions and key informant interviews and shared their views and experiences with me. Their input was instrumental in understanding the social norms that affect the lives of women and children in their communities. I am indebted to their respective village leaders, who facilitated my access and communication with the respondents. Without their assistance, this assessment would not have been possible.

 

 

Author’s Address

Mr.Sadik Abdi Hirsi

Senior Lecturer

Jigjiga University

Sadikhirsi50@gmail.com

 


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development makes the abolition of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as one of its declared goals, FGM has been recognized as a negative impact on health in the form of persistent discomfort, and difficulties giving birth of women. The technique causes traumatization and a great deal of psychological stress in addition to raising the risk of infection, including HIV.  Based on this Coin-FGM prevention implementing by GIZ country office has subsidized GARAD organization which is a local CBO. As part of project implementation, social norm assessment was conducted in Shebelley District, one of the 11 districts of Fafan zone in Somali Regional State, Ethiopia. With elevations ranging from 950 to 1300 meters above sea level, the district is semi-arid with annual temperatures between 290 C and 27.50 °C.

 

The social norms assessment covers three target villages which were sampled from the target district based on its high prevalence of rural FGM practice. Community groups working in the areas such as education, health, masjid Imams, religious leaders, women's associations, justice, traditional elders, circumcizors & youths were also participated the KII and FGDs during the assessment survey. Three (3) villages in Shabeley district were sampled are: Hadow, Amadle, and Duhusha. Each village is invited five (5) KII respondents and four (4) FGD groups, each with six (6) participants. Totaling 72 FGD participants and 15 KIIs. The collected data were classified as quantitative and qualitative data related to the FGM practice.

 

Education and sex of KII respondents were classified based on their gender. 46.45 percent of the male respondents were illiterate, while 14.30 percent of females were graduates of university collages. However, majority of these key informants were teachers, nurses, village administrators and practitioners operating in the three target villages. Occupation and gender of the FGDs Respondents were also shown similar with the KII. The KII and FGDs were conducted to gauge the scope of FGM practice in the target communities.

 

Focus groups were asked if girls aged 4-14 years old who lived in their homes had undergone circumcision in the previous two years or intended to do so for any daughters or relatives who might move in with them. Most of them revealed the existence of FGM practice in the community. On the other hand, out of 72 participants, 67(93.1 percent) disagreed while 5(6.9 percent) agreed that FGM is religious requirement to practice by community. Out of 12 attended groups (of 72 total), 93.1% gave false answers while 6.9% gave true ones. On average 69.4% of girls in focus group provided positive responses on connection between FGM usage and marriage, compared to 29.6% who provided negative responses. The most females are cut between the ages of 6 and 12, according to the average consensus response.

 

The prevalence of girls' circumcision procedures that are performed in the target community was the focus of the study whose rate is estimated at 66.70%, according to the FGDs and KII survey. During the procedure of female genital mutilation (FGM), the primary goal is ensuring that the girl is "closed". The level of access to FGM trainings by working community groups against FGM practice is very low as expected to access by advocacy groups. On communication massage delivery, findings indicate that 13.3 percent use tools such as Radio, 20 percent religious prayer and public gatherings while 46.7 percent transmit training sessions.

 


1. INTRODUCTION

With 65% of girls and women aged 15 to 49 and 47% of girls aged 15 to 19, Ethiopia comes second only to Egypt in terms of the percentage of women who have undergone FGM. The DHS investigates differences between urban and rural areas, religion, specific ethnic groups, educational attainment, and wealth. It contains self-reports from women over 15 as well as mothers' reports for girls under 15 years of age and tracks occurrence, type, and age of cutting. When girls between the ages of 15 and 19 had their hair cut, over two thirds had their flesh scraped out (65 percent). It is noteworthy that 25% of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are unaware of the type of FGM they had, partly because most were cut at such a young age and have little memory of having a body without modifications.

 

In all age groups, women are more likely than men to believe that FGM should continue, and overall, beliefs are only marginally declining, according to the EDHS 2016. With 24 percent of women and 17 percent of men nationwide stating that FGM is required by their faith, women are more likely than men to feel that it has a religious basis. It is imperative to cooperate with religious leaders to modify the social and gender norms that sustain FGM because more people believe it should be stopped than believed it should be practiced. Depending on their religion, Muslim women are more than twice as likely to believe that FGM should continue and that it is required by law than Orthodox or Protestant women.

 

It is debatable whether FGM is an Islamic commandment or a tribal tradition in the Muslim world. According to a recent press release from the important Egyptian Muslim group Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah, FGM is nevertheless religiously forbidden due to its harmful consequences on physical and mental health. Making ensuring that present and future generations of girls are shielded from the dangers of the practice while also protecting those who are at risk now is one of the major problems. This is especially important because nations with high rates of FGM frequently have rapid population expansion and huge juvenile populations. In 2019, an estimated 4.1 million girls would experience employment loss. Projections indicate that 4.6 million additional girls will be abducted in 2030.

 

According to the UNICEF FGM Country Profile on Ethiopia, Ethiopia has the highest absolute number of FGM victims in Eastern and Southern Africa, with "home to 25 million girls and women who have had FGM" (2020). Around 16 million of these people reside in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia, according to the most recent Demographic Health Survey (DHS) that was done there in 2016. The SNNPR (Southern Nations Nationalities and People's Region), Somalia, the Afar, and Tigray regions each have a population of 9 million people, and Addis Abeba, the nation's capital, is home to 1 million people. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia's Revised Criminal Code (9 May 2005) (Articles 565–6) expressly declares FGM to be unlawful, yet despite this, the practice is nevertheless extensively practiced there (65 percent nationally as of 2016, according to the DHS), with significant regional variations.

 

Campaigns and interventions against harmful traditional practices, including FGM, have been carried out in Ethiopia over the past 20 years with varying degrees of success. To do this, a few organizations collaborated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. However, the quantity of these organizations dramatically dropped when the Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies was adopted in 2009. This is because the number of local non-governmental organizations and members of civil society that were involved in influencing community behavior has decreased. This led to the development of legal awareness, which in turn allowed the community to continue practicing FGM unabatedly.

Thus, this is a report on the assessment of social norms prevailing in Shabeley district, Fafan zone. The assessment was consulted by Generation for African Relief and Development Organization (GARAD), which implemented the Community Initiative (COIN) project, and funded by GIZ-Ethiopia country office. GARAD is an organization that aims to promote sustainable development and humanitarian assistance in Africa. The assessment also involved SRS-Bureau of women and children affairs and district office of women and children affairs, which provided valuable information on the subject matter. The assessment used focus group discussions and key informant interviews with respondents from Hadow, Amadle and Duhusha villages, who were facilitated by their respective village leaders.


1.2. Overview of COIN-FGM Prevention Program

The elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other harmful traditional practices is one of the stated goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG target 5.3). The European Union's Gender Action Plan II (GAP II) aims to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including FGM, and to enhance women's physical and mental health.

FGM is a major breach of both children's rights and human rights because it has been used to commit crimes against girls, some of whom are still quite young. FGM has a detrimental effect on health, manifesting as monthly cramps, on-going discomfort, and challenges giving delivery. In addition to increasing the risk of infection, including HIV, the method traumatizes patients and leads them to experience a tremendous degree of psychological stress. FGM is a major factor in maternal mortality, as it causes obstetric fistula, stillbirth, and mother death.

The GIZ Regional Program is implementing the "Improvement of the Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation" (FGM-Prev) program in the east African countries of Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The key goals and priority areas of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Government in the areas of advancing democracy and the rule of law are intended to be supported by this initiative.

In four areas, the project seeks a multisectoral strategy:

Additionally, it develops around three primary areas of activity in order to make a better the prevention of FGM in the future:

 

In accordance with the third action item, the GIZ FGM-Prev initiative is working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Women and Social Affairs to establish a Community Initiative Fund (COIN-Fund). This Community Initiative Fund aims to support and promote activities carried out locally by non-governmental and community-based organizations.

The Generation for African Relief and Development (GARAD) organization and GIZ are working together to carry out the project in the Shabeley area of the Fafan zone of the Somali Regional State in order to accomplish this objective. As part of the project's implementation, GARAD evaluated the societal norms that continue FGM in the community in order to establish a baseline for the practice in the target district 

1.3. Objective of the Capacity Assessment

The overall goal of the capacity assessment was to evaluate the community groups working to maintain the social norm of FGM at the district level, with a focus on identifying their capacity to alter social norms of FGM, repair capacity shortages, and create awareness for the practice's abolition. The following were the assessment's particular goals: