Hence the campaigns have combined raising awareness against FGM/C with supporting local entrepreneurship and healthcare in villages. We believe this is one of the main drivers for motivating communities to re-assess the necessity of continuing FGM/C. The campaign first started in three villages in 2012 and is now active in ten villages in Kankan prefecture.1A prefecture is a sub-division of one of Guinea’s eight administrative regions. By 2024, the local NGO (ASD) was active in four of the fifteen sub-prefectures of the Kankan prefecture: Karifamoriah, Balandou, Gberedou Baranama, and Koumban. This chapter explains how the campaigns were developed and discusses the successes and challenges. Before giving an overview of the different elements of the campaigns, we will provide some insights into the context of FGM/C in Guinea.

The UNICEF report also highlights the fact that ‘while some countries are making progress towards abandoning the practice, FGM/C will become increasingly concentrated around pockets of resistance, where no progress is yet evident’ (ibid.:14). In Guinea, support for the practice is highest in rural areas and among those with lower levels of education. Overall, 65.4 per cent of women and 59.6 per cent of men aged fifteen to forty-nine in Guinea who have heard of FGM/C believe that the practice should continue (28 Too Many 2021a).

The most common form of FGM/C in Guinea involves cutting and removing flesh (this applies to 58 per cent of women aged between fifteen and forty-nine, and may correspond with WHO Type 1 or 2). Eleven per cent of women have undergone a simple cut, with no flesh removed (WHO Type 4), and in 10 per cent of cases women have been infibulated (WHO Type 3).2In the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), women are asked if they are cut and if they had a ‘simple cut or if flesh was removed from the genital area’ (INS and ICF 2019). Women and girls are not asked what type of FGM/C they have had, according to the WHO classifications. Hence it is not possible to state whether it is Type 1 or 2 in this instance. Some 21 per cent of women report that they do not know what type has been performed on them (INS and ICF 2019:346).

In Guinea, one region where the prevalence of FGM/C exceeds the national average is the prefecture of Kankan, where 96.3 per cent of women aged between fifteen and forty-nine have undergone FGM/C (28 Too Many 2021b). Kankan prefecture has fifteen communities (collectivités communautés), of which fourteen are rural communes and one urban. The total population of Kankan prefecture is 595,403, of which 300,646 are women (INS 2023).

Finally, to better understand the context of FGM/C in Guinea, it is important to note the growing trend towards medicalisation. The percentage of women and girls cut by a health professional in Guinea rose from 9 per cent in 1999 to 17 per cent in 2018. Among girls aged nought to fourteen, the percentage rose from 31 per cent in 2012 to 35 per cent in 2018 (figures derived from DHS reports cited in 28 Too Many 2021a:5). Although FGM/C is prohibited under Guinean criminal law, including the criminalisation of health professionals’ involvement in FGM/C, the law is very poorly enforced (28 Too Many 2018), especially in rural areas.

Faced with this upsurge in FGM/C, two organisations (one based in Kankan, Guinea, and the other in Belgium) launched a campaign aimed at preventing local communities from cutting their daughters. As mentioned, the Guinean NGO is ASD, while its Belgian counterpart, Aniké, provides human and financial resources to support ASD in implementing activities in the field. The campaign/s consist of several components, which are explained in detail below.

Therefore, in 2012, a baseline survey was conducted in urban and rural areas to assess community perceptions of FGM/C in the Kankan prefecture. The survey revealed that the various problems encountered in the fight against FGM/C stemmed from inadequately defined strategies, inappropriate targeting of audiences, and insufficient monitoring of projects initiated and carried out in the field. In addition, the taboos surrounding the subject have contributed to a mystification of FGM/C, preventing the expected results from being achieved. Similarly, despite previous awareness campaigns and calls for effective, participatory action, there has been a lack of synergy and initiative on the part of women in general and rural communities in particular. The interviewed villagers noted that the local community was not fully engaged in these campaigns, with little collaboration between women and men, and even less interaction between different communities. This disconnect, coupled with the lack of ownership, is one of the reasons why many of the awareness-raising and advocacy efforts by civil society organisations have not succeeded in eliminating FGM/C. In addition, the survey revealed that communication between women and opinion leaders was virtually non-existent when it came to jointly defining strategies to eliminate FGM/C. This lack of dialogue, especially with religious and traditional leaders, is largely attributed to the cultural taboos surrounding the subject, which generally discourage open discussion between men and women on certain topics (Tatout et al. 2012). The results of this survey encouraged Aniké to fund an awareness campaign in three villages: Kassa (in the rural commune of Balandou), Gbéléma (in the rural commune of Koumban), and Djirlain (in the rural commune of Karifamoriah).

In 2013, after the first campaign against FGM/C, another survey was carried out to analyse the first campaign and assess community perceptions of FGM/C. This survey covered the first three villages of 2012 (Kassa, Gbéléma, Djirlain) and two new villages: Tenkelen (in the rural district of Karifamoriah) and Dabadou (in the rural district of Balandou).

In the three villages where awareness campaigns were carried out in 2012, it was found that taboos surrounding FGM/C have gradually diminished. Villagers have begun to openly discuss FGM/C, even in heterogeneous groups of different ages and genders. Opinion leaders (among them village elders and women leaders) have encouraged young girls to discuss the complications and social consequences of FGM/C in various settings. These interactions took place one-to-one or in small groups during home visits, while working in the fields, at the market, or in other everyday contexts, as well as in larger groups during community assemblies or more mixed meetings. The customary chiefs of each village (doyens), as well as local elected representatives (district councils), actively encouraged this open dialogue. In contrast, in the newly included villages of Dabadou and Tenkelen, women and men were reluctant to discuss FGM/C openly. They perceived such conversations as signs of a lack of education and considered it impolite to broach the subject in public, particularly in front of elders (Kaba 2013). The achievements made in the first three villages were reinforced, and the two new villages were included in a new awareness-raising and advocacy campaign for the abandonment of FGM/C.

The community assemblies last a full day in each village and are organised in partnership with Radio Rurale. Every year, Radio Rurale is involved in the awareness campaign, organising public broadcasts about FGM/C in all the villages covered by the campaign. These public broadcasts are a key strategy in the process as the literacy rate in the Kankan region in 2018–19 was only 29.3 per cent and radio is therefore of vital importance (INS 2023). Community assemblies, together with public broadcasts, have two main objectives: firstly, to introduce a new campaign in the village and gain the support of all social groups; secondly, to launch a discussion on the subject in the village and reach people who may not typically engage in campaign activities. The public meeting and broadcast begin with local folklore, including traditional music and songs. The radio presenter starts with general discussions before gradually shifting the focus to FGM/C and introducing the campaign. A quiz allows villagers to answer various questions about FGM/C, its complications, and women’s rights. The winners receive prizes such as buckets, pagnes (loincloths), and soap, which motivates the community and encourages active participation. These rewards are warmly welcomed and serve to energise and inspire further involvement. This quiz format, combined with folklore and animated presentations on the radio, encourages even those opposed to FGM/C to participate and express themselves openly. This creates a platform for discussing the subject within the village. Those who are most vocal in their opposition to FGM/C and who can mobilise others are invited to join a Comités de Vigilance Contre la Pratique de l’Excision (COVIPE), or FGM/C vigilance committee. Community participation and ownership are crucial to the success of the campaign.

At the launch and throughout the campaign, radio broadcasts are made by a team of journalists from Radio Rurale in each village, under the supervision of representatives of the NGO ASD. Public radio broadcasts are the ideal way to educate and communicate issues around FGM/C and early and child marriage. They mobilise the entire village population, including traditional chiefs, religious leaders, and traditional communicators. The use in these broadcasts of a question-and-answer format (dealing with the consequences of FGM/C, methods of combating it, recommendations, etc.) facilitates community ownership of the issue. Health and education professionals also take part. The broadcasts are of vital importance as they introduce the subject of FGM/C and provide opportunities for exchange and dialogue between community members, after paving the way for facilitators who will visit each village during the campaign.

In 2016–17, during an awareness campaign in the first five villages and three new ones, it became apparent at a field evaluation in the village of Dalabanin that, despite having several hectares of arable land, no agricultural activities were taking place due to a lack of equipment. The Dalabanin vigilance committee benefited from the supply of agricultural equipment, which was given to women to support market gardening activities. The aim was to support and empower them and give them the means to promote and protect the rights of women and girls, with particular emphasis on eliminating FGM/C and early and child marriage. Similarly, in the same year, the Tenkelen village vigilance committee received a shea butter processing machine. This butter press has not only enabled the women to earn a modest income but has also put them in contact with other villages through market sales. The women proudly told us that they had received the machine because of their active involvement with the vigilance committee in the fight against FGM/C, helping to break the silence around the practice and bring it into open discussion.

The impact of lifting this taboo was assessed during an assessment mission carried out by the two NGOs in 2023. In the two villages visited (Tenkelen and Djirlain), women and men, young and old, came together with the NGOs to discuss the challenges and successes of previous campaigns and current livelihood difficulties. FGM/C was discussed openly. For example, both women and men mentioned that since girls are no longer cut, they have found that ‘more love exists between a husband and a wife’ as the fear of intimacy has decreased for women. Another positive aspect mentioned is that there is a financial benefit to no longer cutting girls, now that the costs associated with FGM/C are zero, including medical expenses if a girl needs healthcare as a result of being cut.

Although there is room for improvement (such as more support from the town mayor and the health authorities to maintain the health post, provision of local means of transport for health personnel to visit the surrounding villages, and provision of training in the use of equipment provided by international donors, etc.), the health post in Dabadou is often flagged up by local health authorities as a model of good practice. At the inauguration ceremonies for the health post, important kits were distributed to health structures by Aniké (Kankan Regional Hospital, Karifamoriah and Balandou Health Centres). One of the major advantages of a health post is that it is a community-centred structure, which ensures proximity to the local population. The success of the health post is demonstrated by the fact that other villagers in the vicinity come to Dabadou to obtain health services, and express their desire for health posts to be established in their own villages. A specific dynamic was created through the interconnection between the health post and the anti-FGM/C campaign, which contributed to the effectiveness of the campaign.

Since the health post became operational, very few, if any, women deliver their babies at home in the village, and staff at the health post are frequently consulted on issues related to child health, maternity, and general health. The activities of the health post focus on the prevention of FGM/C; for example, at the birth of a girl, the intention to cut her is assessed and the mother or parents are informed of the negative health consequences of FGM/C. In addition, causeries (talks) are held with patients to discuss the harmful aspects of FGM/C. Since medicalised FGM/C is on the rise in Guinea, staff are required to sign an agreement committing to refrain from performing FGM/C. All these activities employ a pacifist style of communication, promoting dialogue and understanding.

Another local initiative took place in Dabadou, where members of the local vigilance committee set up a hotline. They distributed the phone number to villagers, including people from surrounding villages, during awareness campaigns at markets and community assemblies, emphasising the importance of stopping FGM/C. On several occasions, this hotline was used for advice or to report families that were considering cutting their girls. When they received such calls, vigilance committee members took the opportunity to visit these families, explaining the reasons why FGM/C should not be practised. In another village, the local midwife, working at a health post (not the one built by Aniké/ASD), performed FGM/C on fourteen girls. The villagers raised awareness and contacted ASD to intervene. ASD brought the issue to the attention of UNICEF, and an investigation followed, resulting in the prosecution and trial of the local midwife.

Although a formal evaluation and quantification of the impacts of the campaigns has not yet been carried out due to time constraints, we hope to have demonstrated that the combination of sensibilisation (awareness-raising) against FGM/C with supporting local entrepreneurship and healthcare in rural villages is promising, and is helping to motivate communities to re-assess the necessity of continuing FGM/C.

While these efforts are promising, the lack of formal evaluation and quantifiable data underscores the need for more comprehensive monitoring and assessment to better understand the long-term impact of these campaigns. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that integrating awareness campaigns with the vigilance committees’ local entrepreneurship and health support can be an effective strategy in motivating communities to reconsider and gradually abandon FGM/C practices. Sustaining these efforts through collaboration with local authorities, respecting cultural contexts, and ensuring strong community participation is essential for success in eliminating FGM/C, especially in rural communities where support for FGM/C is highest and change is usually slower to come.