From Voices to Leadership: Lessons on TGG's Girl-Centred Approaches to Ending FGM across Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal and Somaliland

Abstract

This learning brief synthesises the outcomes and lessons from The Girl Generation Support to the Africa-Led Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) programme, which was implemented across Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, and Somaliland from 2022 to 2025. The programme, funded by UK International Development and led by a consortium including Options, Amref Health Africa, ActionAid, Orchid Project, and the Africa Coordination Centre for the Abandonment of FGM, adopted a girl-centred approach to empower girls and young women as leaders and advocates in the movement to end FGM. The brief highlights how the programme fostered agency, leadership, and collective action among girls, leading to increased opposition to FGM, strengthened protection mechanisms, and shifts in community norms. It also discusses challenges such as safeguarding, legitimacy, and inclusion, and provides practical recommendations for future programming to ensure sustainable norm change and protection for girls at risk of FGM.