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Sudan: Red Sea community abandons harmful traditional practices

Save the Children continue to work with the community in Sinkat to protect their girls from harmful practices. Credit: Save the Children.

A community in a remote area of the famous Red Sea mountains has made an unprecedented announcement: it will abandon female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage.

In a public declaration ceremony, all community members, including the elders, the Sheikh, Omda, midwives, mothers, fathers, teachers and children, signed a banner with their commitment.

Fatima, a midwife, explains her motivation to support the community’s decision after seeing the harmful effects of the traditional practices: “In my work, I have seen the consequences of FGM/C, such as heavy bleeding, severe pain, birth complications and, in worst cases, the death of the mother, baby and infants. In our area, the FGM/C procedure was done at a very young age — only two years old.”

Fatima’s decision means she will lose part of her income, as midwives often carry out the FGM/C procedures. However, she and her colleagues decided to prioritize the well-being of girls in the community.

Sheikh Ahmed adds: “Many of us were not aware how harmful our traditions are. After the discussion with Save the Children, we started to understand the consequences of these practices. We assembled our council and discussed the advice.”

Save the Children’s successful dialogue with the community is based on years of emergency relief work in Sinkat locality in Red Sea State, which has some of the highest malnutrition rates in Sudan. With funding from the UN’s Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF), Save the Children supported the community with nutrition and health interventions, and a water pump and tank.

With funding from the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, Save the Children has supported the community in Sinkat with nutrition and health interventions. Credit: Save the Children

Save the Children’s successful dialogue with the community is based on years of emergency relief work in Sinkat locality in Red Sea State, which has some of the highest malnutrition rates in Sudan. With funding from the UN’s Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF), Save the Children supported the community with nutrition and health interventions, and a water pump and tank.

Assisting the community with their immediate life-saving needs built the necessary trust to go a step further and introduce a child protection component in the SHF’s second year. Save the Children’s Child Protection team engaged with the community on this topic, in close collaboration with the State Council for Child Welfare. After regular meetings and discussions, the community decided to move forward with their joint decision.

The Sheikh explains: “We decided together to let our girls marry after they reach 18 or 20 years, and to fully abandon the practice of FGM/C. We will also include these decisions in the tribal laws of our community. People will follow these laws and we will make sure to enforce them.”

After celebrating this success, Save the Children’s protection teams are continuing their long-term programmes, hoping to convince even more communities to protect their girls from harmful practices.

In 2020, Sudan criminalized all forms of FGM/C under article 141 of its criminal law. However, ensuring the article’s implementation requires close community engagement and follow-up. Child marriage is still legal in Sudan and is therefore an advocacy priority for Save the Children in 2023.

This success was made possible through the generous support of the Sudan Humanitarian Fund.