Around the world, more than 200 million are living with the consequences of FGM and 3 million girls are at risk of being cut each year. An estimated 500,000 women and girls living in the EU are affected by FGM, with a further 180,000 at risk each year. Meeting the needs of these women and girls requires that the asylum, health, social support, legal, judicial, law enforcement, educational and media/communication systems of EU member states offer appropriate and accessible high-quality services.

In 2015, the European Commission granted the Cyprus University of Technology funding for a 24-month project to develop a European web-based knowledge platform on FGM to serve as an EU-wide multilingual information and educational resource centre, providing easily accessible and culturally appropriate information and support to professionals from diverse backgrounds across the EU, to effectively deliver victim support, raise awareness of FGM, and protect women and girls living with or at risk of FGM.

This free platform is now going live! It will serve as an information and educational resource centre and offer easily accessible and culturally appropriate information. 

UEFGM E-learning

The UEFGM e-learning tool aims to raise awareness of and improve knowledge about FGM amongst health professionals and asylum officers working in Europe, including midwives, gynaecologists, paediatricians, nurses, health visitors, medical and nursing students, judges, asylum case and reviewing authority officers, asylum support-centre staff, police, child protection officers, social workers and related NGOs.

It will:
• support professionals to effectively deliver victim support, protection and prevention programmes
• provide country-specific information on EU member states
• incorporate a human rights approach based on culture- and gender-sensitive perspectives
• ensure targeted awareness-raising, preventing stigmatisation in the media and protecting women and girls living with or at risk of FGM

The e-learning course is designed to raise awareness of and improve knowledge about FGM amongst professionals from diverse sectors including: Health, Asylum, Law and Justice, Law Enforcement/Police, Education, Social and Child Protection, and the Media. The online course is also of use to NGOs, including women’s organizations and shelters offering support and protection to women and girls affected by FGM.

The e-learning course offers 13 modules in 9 languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish).

The knowledge platform also includes country specific information covering 11 EU member states most affected by FGM, available in English as well as in the national language/s. The country specific information covers country data, legal framework, policies, milestones and practices, advice and support, resources and national focal points, as well as international and European conventions.

The platform is being launched in Belgium :

• in French : During the Annual Assembly of the Concerted Strategies against FGM (CS-FGM), on 16th of February 2017, at the Institution for Equality between Women and Men
• in Dutch : Date to be communicated

Background

United to END FGM: European Knowledge Platform for Professionals Dealing with Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a transnational project co-funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium of 12 partners and four associate partners across the European Union (EU). The United to END FGM (UEFGM) knowledge platform builds on the United to End FGM e-learning tool for health and asylum professionals, funded by the END FGM Fund 2012 (END FGM European Campaign) and the Human Dignity Foundation, and supported by UNHCR.

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All information : www.uefgm.org