Frontline Ending FGM is breaking the silence on FGM in Guinea-Bissau – and it’s scaling up.
The Born Perfect Campaign, backed by the European Union and run in partnership with the National Committee to End Harmful Traditional Practices (CNAPN), is showing us what works for eradicating FGM.
Since its launch in February 2024, this three-year grassroots initiative has been delivering unprecedented results – 94% of people said they ‘changed their minds’ about FGM after engaging with a Born Perfect Caravan.
Frontline women, activists and survivors are rolling out bold, locally-driven interventions – shifting the power from top-down strategies to working in the communities, with the communities.
The Born Perfect model fuses the most effective interventions into a singular, multi-sectoral strategy – proven, resilient, and reliable: media blitzes, mobilising men and religious leaders, breaking down health risks, pushing legal awareness, and putting girls’ education at the centre.
It’s bold, and it’s working.
In May 2024, the Born Perfect Caravan took the road accross Guinea-Bissau, rolling into regions with high prevelence of FGM. Sonaco, in the Gabú region, stood out – almost everyone joined confront FGM, child marriage, and gender-based violence.
The silence was broken. The message is only growing louder: “End FGM Now, Our Girls are Born Perfect”.
The campaign has rallied a diverse coalition; teachers, police, religious leaders, health workers, journalists, youth, and survivors. It’s grassroots activism with national impact.
Legal messaging is crucial to abandonment of FGM – as Caetano Fernando Barbosa, director of Sonaco Sectoral High School, points out, “Not many people know that FGM is against the law here.” People either haven’t heard of it, or they think it does not apply to them.
That’s why Frontline Ending FGM puts lawyers and police officials on the ground and local media, translating the law into something real and actionable.
Now, as dialogues continue and awareness spreads, the Guinea-Bissau team is gearing up for a final impact study and a documentary that will capture the true value of grassroots intervention and locally-led campaigns.
“The caravans must continue to raise awareness about the harms of FGM”, Caetano emphasised. And they are.
This is what change looks like. Stay tuned for more updates from the frontlines of the fight to end FGM as Frontline Ending FGM expands into Kenya and across Africa.
