Structured community dialogue, panacea to ending FGM —CIRDDOC

A civil society organisation, Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC) has said that community dialogue is a structured, participatory process that brings diverse community members together to share experiences, build trust, and collaboratively solve local problems. It emphasizes listening over debate to foster mutual understanding and action, often used for conflict resolution, health initiatives, or social change, especially ending the menace of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Speaking to newsmen at the event in one of the communities, The Executive Secretary of CIRDDOC Nigeria Ms. Onyinye Okaah maintained that FGM has no health benefit and urged the community members to desist from the practice. She added that through dialogue, understanding, and collective action, it is possible to build a community where every girl grows up safe, healthy, and free from harm.

According to her, the time to protect women and girls is now, and the responsibility rests with us.

“Consensus-building meeting is critical to the elimination of FGM because it facilitates collective abandonment, allowing communities to abandon the practice together without fear of social stigma or marriageability loss for their daughters. These meetings transform deeply ingrained social norms by enabling dialogue among community members, religious leaders, and elders to publicly accept the end of the practice”.

“FGM is a social norm often upheld by fear of exclusion and cannot easily be abandoned by individuals in isolation. The consensus building meeting will ensure that a critical mass of the community agrees to stop simultaneously”.

“When a community acts together, families no longer fear that their daughters will be shunned or considered “unmarriageable” for not undergoing FGM”.

“As part of efforts to ensure the eradication of FGM in Njaba LGA of Imo state, CIRDDOC with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the joint program on the elimination of FGM conducted community dialogue and consensus building meeting on the elimination of FGM in 15 communities in Njaba LGA of Imo State”.

“The meeting brought together a broad range of key stakeholders, including community elders, religious leaders, women leaders, youth leaders, traditional birth attendants, health workers and service providers who are pivotal in shifting community mindsets. The participants had the opportunity to openly express their views, challenge assumptions, and share stories in a safe environment”.

“The community dialogue and consensus building meeting moved beyond simply discussing problems towards implementing actionable solutions. The meetings with members from 15 communities were a prelude to public declarations of abandonment, where communities openly commit to protecting their girls”.

“The objectives among others are to foster shared understanding of the harmful health and human rights consequences of FGM thereby transforming deep-rooted social norms, and securing commitments from traditional and religious leaders to abandon the practice, to secure agreement on the implementation of the Imo state Violence against Persons Prohibition law and shifting from simply having laws in place to actively holding duty-bearers accountable for enforcing them, and to empower local communities to take ownership of the abandonment process, ensuring that the movement is driven by community members rather than solely by external organizations, thus guaranteeing long-term sustainability”.