NGOs: Working to Eradicate FGM "IT is unacceptable that the international community remains passive in the name of a distorted vision of multiculturalism.  Human behavior and cultural values, however senseless or destructive they may appear from the personal and cultural standpoints of others, have meaning and fulfill a function for those who practice them.  However, culture is not static but is in constant flux, adapting and reforming.  People will change their behavior when they understand the hazards and indignity of harmful practices and when they realize that it is possible to give up harmful practices without giving up meaningful aspects of their culture." (Joint statement by the World Health Organization, UN Children's Fund, and UN Population Funding.) Many NGO's are doing much to further educate and aid the victims and perpitrators of FGM.  Click on the NGO links below to further explore these ongoing projects. Amnesty International -  Giving the reader a brief synopsis of the different types of female circumcision, they also mention that in some parts of the practicing world, only the females clitoral hood is removed; in other parts, no surgery is performed.  The girls initiation comes through ceremonial practices.  The ceremony may include holding a knife next to the genitals, pricking the clitoris, cutting pubic hair, or making a "light scar" in the genital or upper thigh area. (amnesty.org)  They are quick to point out that the type of female circumcision is dependent on a variety of factors, "including the woman or girl's ethnic group, what country they are living in, whether in a rural or urban area and their socio-economic provenance" (amnesty.org, p.1).  This site goes on to tell all the effects that genital mutilation has on the enduring girls.  In light of disease, infection, and even death that can occur, it is interesting to note the added risk of "healing" remedies employed.  Animal dung, believed to have healing properties, is liberally employed as a healing agent to the girls lacerated gentials (amnesty.org).  This site then addresses reasons for FGM, highlighting "cultural identity," and "gender identity."  This is a custom and a tradition, and a women is not deemed "complete" until she has surrendered herself to this lineage of brutal tradition. Equality Now -  Boasting support from actress Meryl Streep, this site is dedicated to combating disriminatory laws against women.  "Equality Now's Advisory Council Meryl Streep and Alanis Morissette have lent their powerful voices to advance international women's issues including the participaton of women in the restoration of peace and democracy in Afghanistan, and efforts to end the commercial sexual exploitation of women" (equalitynow.org). Feminist-  First citing what FGM is, where it occurs, and its various psychological and physical affects on the women who undergo the procedure.  The majority of their web page on FGM, however, is dedicated to political headway that is being made currently to educate the public and to ultimately erradicate this procedure from these cultures.  The WHO organization, (World Health) has been lobbying in Africa since 1979 for the erradication of FGM (Feminist.com).  "The nine African and Middle Eastern countries which participated formulated four ground-breaking recommendations for abolishing FGM, urging that health education and health training programs should be organized" (Feminist.com).  It was not the last conference.  "In 1984 at a conference in Dakar to follow up on the WHO Seminar, the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children was organized by African women to prevent and eradicate FGM. . .Now operating in more than 24 African countries and sponsors many activites as well as education programs to stop FGM" (Feminist.com).  Also, the WHO organization is currently distributing a pamphlet called the "Universal Childbirth Picture Book-with Additions to prevent Excision and Infibulation" (Feminist.com).  "The CBPBs is in English, French, and Arabic and are distributed all over Africa" (Feminist.com).  These graphic pamphlets are used to educate the people to the hazards of FGM and the intricacies of pregnancy. FORWARD (Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development)- "Forward" has many goals, namely eliminating FGM through educational programs in the countries where FGM is practiced.  Promoting health education to African women and their children through local communities.  Developing "co-ordinated" policies on FGM with local governments for health, education, child protection, and social services.  Training local authorities, and advocate material on FGM for African women, their families, as well as doctors in health, and education. FORWARD is the leading voluntary organization in the United Kingdom that is working towards elimination of FGM worldwide (forwarduk.org). GAMS-  GAMS is a non-profit organization specializing in FGM.  Its members are French and African women with varying skills in health, as well as social and educational realms.  They have a long history of preventitive measures of FGM.  They are financed by the Women's Rights Service and the Social Action Fund (perso.wanadoo.fr). Inter-Parliamentary Union -  The IPU is the international organization, established in 1889.  It "fosters contacts, co-ordination, and the exchange of experience among parliaments and parliamentarians of all countries.  Contributes to the defense and promotion of human rights- -an essential factor of parliamentary democracy and development" (ipu.org).  The IPU upholds the efforts of the United Nations, whose objectives it shares, as well as with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations which are motivated by the same ideals" (ipu.org).