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Born whole: being a woman in Sudan

Small faces may look up at me equally quizzically as I visit a maternity hospital in Sudan. But from these first moments, the path for a girl is mapped out differently from that for a boy. And that has included the …

One billion rise to tackle violence against girls and women on V Day

International Development Minister Lynne Featherstone believes FGM/C can end in a generation if we work together. Picture: DFID

I wanted to take the opportunity of V-Day, a day on which girls and women around the world will rise up to challenge the violence perpetrated on them, to update you on my priorities as Ministerial Champion for the elimination …

The silence has been broken, now let’s break the cycle of FGM/C

Efua Dorkenoo with UK International Development Minister Lynne Featherstone. Picture: Options

On this International Day of Zero Tolerance against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), I call on everyone to unite in a global movement to prevent the next generation of girls from undergoing FGM/C. As we start on a new global social …

Positive news from Burkina Faso on the work to end FGM/C

Girls from the Zitenga region. Their community has abandoned FGM/C as a result of the UK aided supported UN Joint Programme. Picture: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID

Today I am in Ziniaré, a village that has abandoned female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C). While 76% of girls and women from 15 to 49 years old in Burkina Faso have undergone the practice, only 9% of Burkinabés, men …

A UK led effort to end female genital cutting within a generation

I'm posting this from a chilly New York, where I'm attending the UN's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).  It's a sight to see so many women in colourful national dress, queueing in snow flurries to get past security …