At the centre of the conversation was Catherine Meng'anyi, a nurse, FGM/C survivor, and outspoken advocate against both FGM/C and gender-based violence. Her voice carried a weight that no statistic could replicate. She did not speak of FGM/C as an abstract issue or a distant problem; she spoke from experience, from memory, and from a place that exposed the emotional and physical realities often sanitised in global discussions.
Her story disrupted the tendency to frame FGM/C solely through numbers—how many cases, how many countries, how many years left - by reminding everyone in the room that each number represents a person, a body, and a life shaped by that experience.
Catherine’s presence also revealed a tension that runs through global efforts to end FGM/C: the gap between policy commitments and lived realities. While international frameworks and national laws have increasingly condemned the practice, enforcement remains uneven, and social norms continue to sustain it. In many communities, FGM/C is tied to ideas of identity, belonging, and acceptance, making it resistant to change through legislation alone. Catherine emphasised that ending FGM/C requires more than prohibition - it requires transformation at the community level, where conversations are difficult, resistance is real, and change is slow.
This complexity was further explored by Safiya Riyaz, who as coordinator of Asia Network to end FGM/C - a network hosted by Asian Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women - ARROW, brought a regional perspective from the Asian region. She highlighted how FGM/C is often misrepresented as an issue confined to certain parts of Africa, when in reality it exists in diverse forms across multiple regions, including Asia. This misrepresentation has significant consequences: it shapes where resources are directed, which communities are prioritised, and how interventions are designed. When the issue is framed too narrowly, entire groups or communities are left invisible, their experiences excluded from both data and policy responses.
Safiya’s intervention also pointed to the challenges of addressing FGM/C in contexts where it is less visible or openly discussed. In such settings, the lack of data does not indicate absence but silence - silence shaped by stigma, fear, and the private nature of the practice. Efforts to end FGM/C must therefore navigate not only cultural sensitivities but also the limitations of knowledge itself. Without accurate and inclusive data, strategies risk being incomplete, reinforcing the very invisibility they seek to overcome.
Coordinator and host of SHE & Rights and founder head of CNS Shobha Shukla brought the discussion into a broader reflection on accountability and urgency. With 56 months remaining to meet global SDG 5.3 targets of ending FGM/C, it is deeply worrying that instead of declining, FGM/C rates have instead risen by 15% in last 8 years (2016-2024). She questioned whether current approaches are sufficient - not only in scale but in depth. Are interventions addressing root causes, or are they focused on surface-level change? Are communities being engaged as partners, or treated as recipients of external solutions? These questions challenge the optimism often embedded in global commitments, urging a more critical examination of progress.
This complexity was further explored by Safiya Riyaz, who as coordinator of Asia Network to end FGM/C - a network hosted by Asian Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women - ARROW, brought a regional perspective from the Asian region. She highlighted how FGM/C is often misrepresented as an issue confined to certain parts of Africa, when in reality it exists in diverse forms across multiple regions, including Asia. This misrepresentation has significant consequences: it shapes where resources are directed, which communities are prioritised, and how interventions are designed. When the issue is framed too narrowly, entire groups or communities are left invisible, their experiences excluded from both data and policy responses.
Safiya’s intervention also pointed to the challenges of addressing FGM/C in contexts where it is less visible or openly discussed. In such settings, the lack of data does not indicate absence but silence - silence shaped by stigma, fear, and the private nature of the practice. Efforts to end FGM/C must therefore navigate not only cultural sensitivities but also the limitations of knowledge itself. Without accurate and inclusive data, strategies risk being incomplete, reinforcing the very invisibility they seek to overcome.
Coordinator and host of SHE & Rights and founder head of CNS Shobha Shukla brought the discussion into a broader reflection on accountability and urgency. With 56 months remaining to meet global SDG 5.3 targets of ending FGM/C, it is deeply worrying that instead of declining, FGM/C rates have instead risen by 15% in last 8 years (2016-2024). She questioned whether current approaches are sufficient - not only in scale but in depth. Are interventions addressing root causes, or are they focused on surface-level change? Are communities being engaged as partners, or treated as recipients of external solutions? These questions challenge the optimism often embedded in global commitments, urging a more critical examination of progress.
A recurring theme throughout the session was the risk of reducing FGM/C to a measurable target rather than a lived experience. Global goals, while important for mobilising action, can inadvertently shift focus toward timelines and indicators at the expense of deeper, more sustainable change. The idea of “56 months left” creates urgency, but it also raises a critical question: what does success look like? Is it the elimination of the practice in statistical terms, or the transformation of the conditions that sustain it?
The speakers consistently returned to the importance of centring survivors and affected communities in these conversations. Catherine’s testimony, in particular, underscored the need to move beyond frameworks that treat individuals as passive beneficiaries of change. Survivors are not just voices to be included; they are leaders, advocates, and experts in their own right. Their insights are essential for designing interventions that are not only effective but respectful and grounded in reality.
At the same time, the session did not shy away from the emotional weight of the issue. Discussions of FGM/C often risk becoming clinical or detached, but here, the human dimension remained at the forefront. The pain, the resilience, the complexity of navigating identity and change - these were not side notes but central to the conversation. It was a reminder that ending FGM/C is not just a technical challenge but a deeply human one, requiring empathy as much as strategy.
What emerged most powerfully was a call for a shift in approach. Ending FGM/C cannot rely solely on top-down policies or global declarations. It requires sustained engagement at multiple levels - legal, social, cultural, and personal. It requires listening to communities, understanding their contexts, and supporting change that comes from within rather than being imposed from outside. And it requires acknowledging that progress is uneven, often slow, and shaped by factors that cannot be easily quantified.
As the session came to a close, the question “Are we on track?” lingered - not as something definitively answered, but as something that demands ongoing reflection. The timeline of 56 months is both a motivator and a warning. It highlights the urgency of action, but it also exposes the distance still to be covered.
In the end, this session was not about offering easy answers or celebrating progress. It was about confronting complexity, amplifying voices that are too often marginalised, and insisting that the path toward ending FGM/C must be rooted in humanity. Behind every policy, every statistic, and every timeline are individuals whose lives cannot be reduced to indicators of success or failure. To truly be “on track” is not just to move closer to a numerical goal, but to ensure that the journey itself respects, includes, and is led by those most affected.
Saher Siddiqui - CNS
(Citizen News Service)
