Community-led initiatives fight to end FGM in Africa

At a church compound in Suswa in Kenya's Narok County, couples listened keenly amid nods and claps as anti-female genital mutilation champions and experts explained the consequences of the practice.

At the end of the one-hour dialogue, both men and women committed to abandoning the practice that has for long violated the rights of women and girls as well as compromising their health.

Practiced in 30 countries mainly in Africa as well as the Middle East and Asia, female genital mutilation is a practice that involves partial or total removal or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Over 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM across these countries, according to the World Health Organization.

The practice is still prevalent despite many countries having enacted laws or legal provisions against it. In many areas in Kenya, community-based education programs are being carried out to eliminate FGM.