The former Culture Ambassador of Liberia, Juli Endee, has raised alarm over the resumption of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by traditional women in Nimba County.
A statement from Former Culture Ambassador Juli Endee expresses disapproval of the resumption of the FGM practice, which has been banned by the government of Liberia due to its harmful effects on women, who are often victims of this practice.
According to Ambassador Endee, FGM has been factually proven to violate the fundamental rights of women, many of whom are forced to partake in this ritual against their will. It has also been shown to compromise the safety of female participants, both women and girls.
She stated that as a lifelong advocate and proponent of women’s rights, she has supported and participated in efforts that led to the ban on FGM and will continue to support the prohibition of this harmful practice, affirming her belief in the rule of law and her commitment to uphold and respect it.
In October 2023, Liberia recorded another significant milestone in its fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) as former practitioners from Nimba County in northern Liberia handed over the traditional tools they used to perform FGM to signal an end to the practice.
The traditional ceremony took place on Friday, 27 October 2023, at the Gbanquoi Vocational and Heritage Centre, which was constructed by UN Women under the auspices of the European Union and United Nations Spotlight Initiative.
The ceremony marked a moment of transformation, as former traditional practitioners, clad in white headgear and carrying containers draped in white cloth, surrendered their tools to Chief Zanzan Karwor, the former Chairperson of the National Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia.
Various stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, the Embassy of Sweden, UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, civil society organizations, local authorities from Nimba, and traditional practitioners from various counties across Liberia, witnessed the ceremony.
Nimba has become the fourth of the eleven counties where FGM is practiced to conduct traditional rituals to end the practice. Other traditional ceremonies aimed at ending FGM have been held in Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, and Bong Counties.
The ban entails putting an end to the harmful practice of cutting women and girls while upholding positive cultural practices such as singing, dancing, and weaving, among others. This approach is now widely known as “initiation without mutilation.”
The Executive Director for Crusaders of Peace and former Cultural Queen of Liberia emphasized that traditional leaders chose to end FGM voluntarily, driven by their belief in doing the right thing to accelerate development.
Ambassador Juli Endee expressed her appreciation to development partners for their support. She acknowledged the importance of reaching out to the “real people,” the traditional leaders and the Zoes (traditional practitioners), to ensure the success of this transformative process.
Comfort Lamptey, UN Women Country Representative for Liberia, applauded the traditional leadership for their commitment to embracing change while safeguarding the cultural rites of women and girls without the harmful effects of FGM.
She highlighted that Nimba County has one of the four vocational and heritage centers established with the support of the European Union and United Nations through the Spotlight Initiative.
Additionally, the former Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Hon. Parleh Harris, expressed gratitude to all stakeholders, including traditional leaders, for their courage in ending FGM. She encouraged everyone to move forward with unwavering determination, as the practice has now been banned.
“We will now be telling our story to other countries about how we did it,” she said.
UN Women is supporting the rollout of the ban on FGM with funding from the Government of Sweden.
