Project summary

Daphne number / 2001/028/WYC
Title / The development of community-based methods in preventing Female Genital Mutilation of Somali women and girls in Finland and Denmark: Haawo Taako
Lead organization / Suomen Punainen Risti (Finnish Red Cross)
Partners / Finland-Somalia Association, Finland
Somali Women’s Organization, Denmark
Summary / The project aimed to explore how community-based methods can be used to prevent FGM in migrant Somali communities in Finland and Denmark.
Comments / The overall objective of the Haawo Taako project was to test how community methods can be used in community work to prevent the genital mutilation of Somali girls and women in immigrant communities in Finland and Denmark. Important FGM projects organized by the European Network for the prevention of FGM had previously been supported by the Daphne budget line. These initiatives were an important background and support for the Haawo Taako project. The primary aim of this project was to approach this harmful practice from within the community but also to be aware of the legal aspects of FGM as a human rights violation and a serious health risk.
The initiative for this project came from communities practising FGM themselves. They were worried about the continuation of this health-endangering tradition, which seriously violates the human rights of women and girls. Thus, it was natural to choose a strong participative angle for this specific project. The beneficaries of the project were the Somali women and girls of the refugee communities in Finland and in Denmark.
The Haawo Taako project achieved a number of important outputs:
  • 12 members of Somalian communities from Finland (6) and Denmark (6) were trained to use participatory rural appraisal methodologies;
  • the methods were used and tested in practice
  • cartoon booklets against FGM were published in the Somali language and distributed in Finland and Denmark as well as through the European Network against FGM.

Lessons and ideas /
  1. A one-year project turned out to be too short to negotiate common agreements against FGM to be signed by communities. In Africa, for example, projects were able to accomplish the common agreements and the common declarations against FGM in rural villages after two years of work.
  2. One of the aims of the project was to create models to replace FGM as a rite of passage. This aim was, however, rejected during the course of the project as the participants thought it important to condemn FGM as a harmful practice and emphasize that there was no need to create a replacement for it.
  3. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) provides a way to give a voice to the community, enabling them to express and analyse their problems and priorities. PRA can be described as a family of methods and behaviours that enables people to express and analyse the realities of their lives and conditions, to plan what action to take and to monitor and evaluate the results. Many methods are visually based, involving local people in creating solutions and methods, for example: seasonal calendars showing food availability, family health questions, prices, wages etc. that can vary during the year, maps locating for example water resources in villages. In the context of this project, body maps locating the painful spots of FGM in the female body were very useful in the practical work. PRA depends on the facilitators acting as convenors and catalysts but not dominating the process. Look, listen and learn are the key words. The facilitators need patience, they have to show respect, be open and self-critical and learn not to interrupt. Listening skills are essential skills for participatory methodologies. More information about PRA: IDS Institute of Development Studies (

Contact details / Suomen Punainen Risti
Tel:
Fax:
E-mail:
Materials available/links /
  • Project e-mail address:
  • Cartoon booklets Haawo Taako (produced in Finland)
  • Video and pamphlet (produced in Denmark)
  • Hand-out Haawo Taako (produced in Finland)