Equality Now Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2004
Contact: Lakshmi Anantnarayan
Nairobi phone: +254-20-2719832 or 2719913
Cell phone: +1-917-862-1002
lanant@equalitynow.org

Tanzanian Activists Form National Coalition to Take Collective Action to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
NGO Leaders Call on Tanzanian Government Officials to Enforce the Law Against FGM

May 31, 2004 – Representatives of the Anti Female Genital Mutilation Network (AFNET), Dodoma Inter -African Committee (DIAC), Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), Network Against Female Genital Mutilation (NAFGEM), Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA), the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA), and Women Wake Up (WOWAP) all gathered over the weekend for a national level consultation meeting in Dar es Salaam, convened by the international women’s rights organization Equality Now to strategize efforts to end FGM. The Tanzanian NGO activists formed a national coalition to intensify the campaign against FGM and to call collectively on the government to play a greater role in the campaign.

A central concern discussed by the meeting participants was the lack of political will to eradicate FGM and the government’s failure to enforce the 1998 law against FGM. Activists cited a number of recent FGM cases to illustrate their concern over the consistent failure on the part of the police to protect girls from FGM and the failure of the courts to enforce the law, such as the case of Elias son of Zalala in Dodoma in January of this year.

Recognition emerged from the meeting of the value of collective action and the strength in working collaboratively to ensure that the government takes on a greater role in the campaign to end the harmful traditional practice. It was noted that the government had undertaken a process to formulate a National Plan of Action, which was to cover the period from 1999-2003, but that little information about the process was available. A common agenda for future collective action was developed at the meeting including outreach to the Prime Minister, a number of government ministries and other stakeholders. “Equality Now welcomes the formation of a national coalition to end FGM in Tanzania," said Faiza Jama Mohamed, the Africa Regional Director. "We look forward to working with the coalition to ensure that the law against FGM is enforced for the protection of girls and that greater government action is taken to end the practice."

Following the national consultation, the NGO leaders of the newly formed coalition were scheduled to meet with the Minister for Gender, the Commissioner of Police and an official in the Ministry of Justice to begin a collective dialogue with these ministries about their role in the campaign against FGM, and to discuss strengthening the partnership between the government and NGOs in this effort. The group met with an official from the office of the Commissioner of Police and urged him to issue guidelines to local police on the law against FGM and their obligation to enforce it. Since 2001 the international Women’s Action Network of Equality Now has been calling on the Tanzanian government to issue such guidelines with little success. The group will urge the Minister of Gender to follow up on the National Plan of Action. Other ministries to be approached by the coalition include Health; Education; and Local Government. Coalition members noted that the Tanzanian media had played a positive role in increasing awareness of FGM and broadening public discussion of the harmful traditional practice.

Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works to protect and promote the civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women. Equality Now’s membership network is comprised of more than 25,000 individuals and organizations in 160 countries.

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