Projects- Completed Projects

Unfortunately, we currently have no running projects in the following countries.

Nevertheless, here you can find an overview of (I)NTACT activities which took place during the past years:

GUINEA

Awareness raising in the form of dialogue

Alternative ceremonies substitute the traditional circumcision ritual

„The children skip school, party at the river, drink and smoke.“

„The parents should intervene and attend to their responsibilites.“

„Our parents should be role models for us, but our mothers don’t have time to look after the children anymore.“

Everybody in Germany knows these kind of sentences. However, these citations come from parents and children from Guinea. Are generation conflicts and value loss global phenomena?!

Now it is time to bring an end to the silence between the generations and the mutual lack of understanding. The six (I)NTACT partner organisations in Guinea received broad interest with their "generation dialogues" both in towns and in rural areas. The adolescents, their parents and often even the grandparents are grateful that somebody addresses the subjects which are so hard to talk about – sexuality, unwanted pregnancies, arranged marriages, dislike for the mother-in-law... the topic “circumcision” is always exceptionally explosive. In the light of social change and new lifestyles, most notably the girls see no more point in circumcision and rebel against it. But even the old people increasingly admit that times have changed and that the adherence to old traditions like genital mutilation offers no solution for present-day problems. This conclusion, that circumcision is not “contemporary” anymore, is an important step towards the complete abandonment of the custom. Since awareness campaigns about the mutilation of girls are not sufficient in Guinea, tradition often outweighs the knowledge about the health consequences of the practice.

In the context of the projects of (I)NTACT partner organisations, hundreds of old and young people, girls and women, boys and men, have participated in dialogues. Our partners even addressed traditional leaders, priests and medical staff by means of further project activities. In the end, it was a "mixture of methods", with which all relevant sections of the population were reached. 

MALI

(I)NTACT’s partner organisation sets a good example

Even circumcisers were addressed by the projects

(I)NTACT’s partner organisation in Mali, AMPDR (Association Malienne Pour le Développement Rural), sets a good example. Social workers worked intensively with all concerned persons in the villages of the region Koulikoro, raised awareness and discussed individually and in groups, initiated awareness-raising sessions for people from various villages, organised video presentations and radio transmissions. Therewith, they have not only won the trust of the population, but also the trust of the circumcisers. Many of them have registered and are willing to give up their profession. 

ANI Mali is only at the beginning of their awareness efforts. Nevertheless, the social workers achieved something great in ten pilot villages: Now the women talk openly about circumcision and other reproductive health issues. This is a gigantic success but also a sign of confidence towards ANI Mali, because in a basically Muslim country like Mali, sexuality is still a taboo issue.

SIERRA LEONE

The taboo “genital mutilation” is being broken

Abdul Sankoh does not favour circumcision. He wants to protect his daughters from it.

Whosoever wants to undertake steps to counteract genital mutilation in Sierra Leone needs a lot of courage and persistency. Nationwide, 90 % of all women are circumcised. After more than 10 years of civil war, the country is slowly recovering. The people are very anxious to re-construct their country. During the daily struggle for bare survival, the circumcision issue is not the current major problem.

However, KAWDA (Katanya Women's Development Association) sees that in a different light. Supported by (I)NTACT, KAWDA organized a seminar in Freetown in February 2004, which was about acquiring allies in the fight against circumcision and qualifying the members of the women’s organisation. The great national media response was astonishing. Thereby inspired, KAWDA carried out a pilot project in some suburbs of Freetown. Social workers were trained, materials were designed, traditional and religious leaders were sensitized, awareness was raised in schools and over the radio. The first aim was definitely achieved: KAWDA can talk publicly about circumcision.

TANZANIA

Pupils were stirred into action for the fight against genital mutilation

“The people will change their behaviour if they realize the risks and unworthiness of traditional methods, and if they understand that they can give up certain customs without giving up important aspects of their culture at the same time.“  

The work of NAFGEM, the (I)NTACT-partner organisation in Tanzania, is geared to this jointly drafted main idea of WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA. The people should not be forced, but convinced. Therefore, NAFGEM sets the highest value on awareness and information campaigns with the population directly on-site. It also does not stop short of the highest authorities, the traditional leaders of the Massai. 

The average circumcision rate in Tanzania is 18 %. Nevertheless, among the Massai, who are known for their manifold cultural heritage, approximately 99% of the women are mutilated. Until recently, awareness campaigns with the Massai were perceived as unfeasible or as too dangerous. In view of that special situation, the success of NAFGEM appears even bigger. The organization was able to win the favour of paramount Massai chiefs for its Anti-FGM-campaign on grassroots level in 2003. 

In 2004, the activities of NAFGEM focused upon the sensitization and mobilization of children and adolescents. After the participation of NAFGEM and its employees and members in advanced trainings on the subject of children’s rights, awareness campaigns for schools could be drawn up. In the scope of these programmes, pupils were supported – as a group of potential victims of genital mutilation – to team up, to militate publicly against the circumcision and to claim the preservation of their fundamental right to physical integrity and human dignity from parents and state. 1250 pupils took part in such rallies and created a public awareness of the fact that the debate about genital mutilation is not only a matter of health issues a doctor looks after, but that this practise raises even more basic questions of human rights and human dignity which concern everybody.

CHAD

Foundation for the fight against circumcision was laid

By the use of (I)NTACT’s financial support, the partner organisation ACDIDH trained 20 of its members in being voluntary social workers in rural areas. Subsequently, they were able to carry out awareness campaigns in the project regions N'Djamena and Sarh, thus all around the capital and in the south of the country.

As from 2004, the project strategy of ACDIDH has been realigned: ACDIDH did not work solely with volunteers anymore but with permanent employees who acted as full-time social workers. Only this reorganization ensured the realisation of the Porte-à-Porte (“from door to door”) education and a lasting presence in the villages. Such kind of intensification of the awareness campaigns is (according to experience) an important element in order to change rigid beliefs at the grassroots-level. Experts regard a lasting presence in villages also for some other reason as absolutely necessary. They fear that the legal ban of circumcision, which has existed in Chad since 2003, won’t put an end to the custom but will cause it to happen in the shadows.

For these reasons, the institutional and personnel presence was strengthened with the help of (I)NTACT in the intervention areas in 2004. Four full-time social workers have carried out “Porte-à-Porte” awareness campaigns in a total of 36 villages. Video presentations and theatre plays with subsequent public discussions for all residents of the village were organised. A full-time co-ordinator and the responsible persons of ACDIDH supported the social workers in their activites.

The foundation of the fight against circumcision in Chad was laid with (I)NTACT’s support.