Khadija Habib, a 20-year-old young woman from the Huwa Woreda of the Afar region, arrived at the Barbara May Maternity Hospital run by the Afar Pastoralist Development Association (APDA) in the Mille District carrying a silent burden. For years, she had endured pain and complications stemming from FGM. Married but unable to conceive, she struggled with intimate relations and faced daily discomfort.
The decision to seek help was itself a sign of changing times. Khadija had heard about the hospital's services from friends, thanks to the awareness she got in the community conversation sessions supported as part of the Joint UNFPA-UNICEF Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which are slowly breaking the silence around FGM and its consequences.
“I was living in pain, but many women hide these problems,” Khadija recalls. “I decided I would not hide anymore.”
The Global Joint UNFPA-UNICEF Programme on the Elimination of FGM is a pivotal initiative empowering communities stand firmly against this harmful practice that is violating the rights of girls and young women. In Ethiopia, FGM prevalence remains significantly high, with regional rates exceeding 90% in the Somali and Afar regions, 68% in rural areas, and 54% in urban areas. These figures highlight the urgent need for comprehensive and sustained interventions. To address this, the FGM programme focuses on community awareness and behavior change, with a strong emphasis on collaboration with influential people such as religious leaders and community leaders to challenge and transform entrenched social norms.
At the hospital, Khadija was met by a team specifically equipped to help her, a direct result of the programme's focus on strengthening health systems to address FGM. Her condition was assessed by counselors and midwives working at the hospital. They identified that the infibulation - the severe form of FGM she had suffered - had left her vaginal opening sewn too tightly, causing her physical and reproductive health issues.
“The community conversations are creating awareness, so women like Khadija now dare to come to us,” explains Hawa Mohammed, a Counsellor at the Barbara May Maternity Hospital. “Our role, supported by the programme, is to be here for them when they decide to come, providing both medical intervention and compassionate counseling.”
Khadija underwent a deinfibulation surgery. While the procedure is often straightforward, her care was tailored. Due to minor post-operative bleeding and the long distance to her home, the clinical team decided she should stay for a five-day recovery period.
“The programme ensures we can provide more than just surgery; we provide a safe space for holistic recovery,” notes Hawa Mohammed. This includes post-operative care, counseling, and ensuring patients complete their treatments, a crucial service for women from remote areas.
During her stay, Khadija received comprehensive care. The physical relief was profound. “I feel like a new person,” she said. “I have lived with this pain for so long, thinking it was my fate. Now I know it can be solved.”
Empowered by her healing, Khadija pledged to return to her community and share her experience, becoming an agent of change.
Yet, the counselors emphasize that treatment, while vital, is not the ultimate solution. “Every woman we heal is a victory, but our true goal is to make this surgery obsolete,” Hawa Mohammed stresses. “ We are here to mend, but the community dialogues are what will ultimately protect the next generation.”
Khadija’s journey illustrates the essential synergy of the Joint Programme: the community-based work creates the demand for change and care, while the strengthened health system provides a compassionate, competent response. Together, they offer a path toward not just healing survivors but ending the practice for good.
