We fulfill our objectives by visiting primary and secondary schools where we meet with students and provide education on issues of gender-based violence, particularly female genital mutilation (FGM). In the Mara region, across four districts—Tarime, Serengeti, Butiama, and Rorya—we have reached 7,200 students from 59 primary schools and 20 secondary schools, educating them about the health harms of FGM.

We provide students with strategies to avoid FGM in their areas, as well as a contact number (116) for a call center to receive immediate assistance. After visiting these schools and providing this education, children began reporting issues related to gender-based violence, especially FGM, to us and their teachers. Some children, upon receiving this education, have gained the confidence to speak up and make decisions to report cases and seek help, resulting in their rescue and placement in safe temporary shelters.

We established safety and security desks inside and outside all primary and secondary schools, following government guidelines. About 58 desks have been set up in both primary and secondary schools. These desks include 12 student representatives from each class (two representatives), two guiding teachers, the head teacher, and one member of the school board.

The goal of these desks is to provide students with a platform to discuss the harmful effects of gender-based violence, including FGM, in their communities under the guidance of their teachers. Students receive education on gender-based violence and report any incidents they encounter within or outside of school to their guidance teachers. The guidance teacher will present these case reports to the head teacher for resolution. If the issues exceed the head teacher’s capacity, they will refer them to the relevant authorities and report them to the ward executive officer.In these desks, students and their guiding teachers continue to meet and educate each other on the effects of FGM and other gender-based violence issues through songs, dramas, and poetry that oppose FGM.

Distribute papers to students and ask them to write about any cases of gender-based violence, particularly female genital mutilation (FGM), that they themselves have experienced or heard about regarding a classmate’s parents planning to subject them to it, without identifying their names. Then, collectively present these cases to the teachers of guidance, the head teacher, and district welfare and development officers.  The paper have no names of students.

We provide advice to individual students who need it, based on the challenges they face at school and outside of it. Through this service, children approach sister counselors to express the challenges they face in the community and their families, especially difficult living conditions, parental refusal to fund their education, and the threat of FGM. The sisters provide advice and education on how to avoid these harmful traditions. More than 1,300 children have received counseling and support.

We provide education to district-level leaders, about 120 including the district executive officer and relevant departments such as basic education, secondary education, economy and planning, health, community development, and school quality inspectors. The goal is to inform them about FGM and provide reports on the activities conducted and challenges faced during project implementation, as well as educate them about the health risks of FGM. These senior government leaders, in turn, issue public statements against gender-based violence, especially FGM, in their meetings and workplaces, particularly in low-income villages and wards. After this education and reporting, leaders made resolutions through district heads and relevant department heads to cooperate in efforts to combat gender-based violence in the Mara region.

We conduct meetings with 600 local leaders, including village leaders, village committees, ward leaders, and religious leaders, to discuss issues of gender-based violence, particularly FGM. We provide education on the harmful effects of FGM on girls and women, and create a joint resolution on how to eradicate this form of gender-based violence by discussing it in their community meetings and making it a permanent agenda. After receiving education, these leaders began implementing these resolutions by holding meetings in their areas to raise awareness and condemn issues of gender-based violence, especially FGM. They have made FGM a permanent agenda item in their meetings and collaborated with CSN-AGBV to provide education to parents both in schools and during community meetings. These leaders also continue to receive reports of gender-based violence and address them.

We held joint meetings with religious leaders from various denominations and educated them about gender-based violence in our areas, particularly FGM. We emphasized that it is our duty as religious leaders to condemn these harmful traditions in our places of worship. We also resolved to work together with these leaders to educate their congregations and inform cultural elders, who are often the source of these oppressive customs. We provide education to youth groups, especially boys, who can also be instigators of gender-based violence in the community, about the harmful effects of gender-based violence, particularly FGM. We meet with cultural elders to educate them on the effects of FGM in society, urging them to abandon these harmful traditions, as contemporary life differs significantly from the past, and FGM only leaves lasting harm on girls.

Sisters Network support 1,360 girls received safe shelter and comprehensive care, including training in alternative, non-harmful rites of passage and access to essential health services. 1,070 children received psycho-social support, alternative transition to Christian rites of passage, and healthcare services when we met with them at school. Of the 292 girls rescued who were at high risk of mutilation, these victims of FGM were sheltered at ATFGM Masanga and Jipe Moyo shelters, where they received training on the termination of FGM and sexual reproductive health rights. They also received services such as psycho-social support and healthcare services. Out of these, 251 were reintegrated into their households; 33 girls remain at the two shelters, and 25 girls are currently undergoing practical vocational training in tailoring at Jipe Moyo Centre and ATFGM Masanga. They have also been linked to VETA Mara for a one-month course in various skills such as cooking (2 girls), computer literacy (5), electrical installation (2), hairdressing (1), and batik making (1). Others continue their education in government schools. This training has empowered the girls with practical skills for self-reliance and economic independence. Additionally, structured alternative rites such as Christian ceremonies offered the girls culturally respectful options that uphold their dignity without harm.

 In collaboration with government we reintegrated about 252 girls in their house hold from our temporary safe houses, this reintegration conducted together with provision of education to parents on dangers of FGM to girls, then we agree with sign the agreement not circumcise girls by doing so law and regulation will be taken to parents, or anyone who will participate in circumcise girls and we continue conduct overseen progress to those girls.