BEGINNING OF THE END ?

In September 2015, world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 5 focusses on Gender Equality. One of its targets is about ending all forms of violence against women and girls in public and private spheres. This is something that is immensely laudable yet hugely challenging to achieve. Achievement of this goal requires a fundamental rethink on the social, cultural, economic and political imperatives that have a deep impact on the status of women and girls. A visit to one of our programmes in Kenya illustrated these complexities.

After a 3-hour long drive from the Kitale airstrip, through the West Pokot region, we reached Kongelai, which is part of ActionAid Kenya’s Local Rights Programme (LRP). It is difficult to spot the houses, spread sparsely across bush forests surrounded by hills. Largely inhabited by pastoralists, the rustic views can create an impression of peace and tranquillity. Yet, it masks one of the most heinous and ancient rituals that have a deep impact on young girls and women. According to one estimate, 200 million across 27 countries in Africa and Asia in the 15-49 age group have been affected.

“I always saw blood around” said Mary, a former ‘cutter’. In keeping with the local culture, Mary was a professional cutter who performed female circumcision soon after a girl enters into adolescence. A painful process conducted with scant attention to safety, it could lead to severe bleeding and even death. But as per the local culture, men would insist on marrying only those girls who had undergone FGM. For the parents, this was important as the man would pay the dowry or bride price. Younger girls who had undergone FGM would be married off to much older and much married men who can afford a higher bride price. “It was difficult. Some girls would die. But I had to perform this. Often, the parents would offer me alcohol to calm me down after the ritual”.

“I did not want to undergo FGM” said 16-year Christine. “But at the age of 13, I was forced by my parents and brother. My family threatened to kill me if I did not comply. And once I went through FGM, I was forced to marry to a much older man who already had four wives. When I resisted and pleaded, I was told that this is normal for girls in our culture. I wanted to continue my education. But I was told that once I had agreed to FGM, it also was a signal that I had agreed to marry”. Christine went to recount her ordeals after marriage. And after a couple of aborted attempts to escape, she succeeded eventually and is now pursuing her education in a centre for rescued girls. She is still not completely comfortable. Her parents and brother have signed an agreement with the local district administrative chief to allow her to study. But she feels that her family resent her because of having resisted the cultural practice.

FGM is not just a cultural rite. It is a symbol of controlling a woman’s sexuality, as Dina, an ActionAid Kenya staff who belongs to the local community, explained. Once circumcised, the vagina was sewn to allow only urine to pass. It was only at the time of her marriage being consummated that the stitches would be opened up. But sometimes, the hole was so small that it would be difficult for a man to penetrate. In such cases, an animal horn would be used to pry open the hole. And after child birth, they would be sewn again. It thus meant that the process of sewing up could be repeated several times in a woman’s life, exposing her to various forms of health risks.

It would also then create more problems at child birth. Maria recounted how she lost her child because the passage was too narrow for the child to be delivered. And after that incident, she was deserted by her husband and she has been childless ever since.

But winds of attitudinal change are blowing, thanks to the courageous work of the local women who have formed a local organisation. Their role is to make local communities aware of the risks associated with this practice and to enable girls and women to resist pressure. They also aim to target young men asking them not to insist that their future brides would have done FGM. As an ex-cutter who has resolved never to go back into her profession, Mary has inspired other cutters to stop this practice and campaign against it. With ActionAid’s support, they are also pursuing other alternative livelihood options.

This also involves them working with many of the local government authorities, traditional chiefs and the police as well. FGM cannot be done forcibly. The law does not permit it. Yet sometimes, the local authorities appear to be providing some implicit support as they are deeply mired in local beliefs, cultural values and practices. This is something that this group is focussing on. The women’s group has also set up helplines using mobile phones so that girls at risk can contact the community leaders.

The journey is long and tortuous as it is a complex mix of various imperatives. But in this unique partnership, ActionAid Kenya has played a huge role in supporting such women’s groups and to ensure that girls have access to continue with their education. Education and improved livelihoods is the answer alongside efforts to constantly change attitude towards women and girls, for which men and boys also have a key role to play. At the base of it, it is about a girl having her fundamental right over her body.

A NEW HORIZON

There is a perceptible sense of excitement in the air with elections around the corner, tinged with optimism and aspiration for the future. These elections are expected to be different with a more visible presence of Aung San Sui Kyi’s NLD party and her supporters, often seen wearning T-shirts with the red flag with a star and peacock in yellow or passing through open vans waving the flag of their party. This, we wee told, is rather unusual if one considered the situation just a few years ago. It is also interesting to see articles in mainstream media including some considered to be more sympathetic to the ruling USDP that covers protests and election rallies.

In the ActionAid Myanmar office too, there is immense optimism about a brighter future for the country, but for different reasons. After being in existence since 2006 (though in reality, programme operations started only around 2009), the team is bolstered by how some of the initiatives are now bearing fruit. “We had to make use of the limited opportunities that the local context provided to build confidence and trust among the local communities and the local authorities on what we are here for. We recognised that the policy space was opening up and we wanted the communities to benefit from these while also persuading the government to consider ways in which they can engage with the local communities”, says Shihab Uddin, the immensely energetic Country Director of ActionAid Myanmar who was asked to initiate the programme.

One of the proudest achievements for this team is the development of ‘Village Fellows’. “It was not a new concept for ActionAid because it had been tried in some other countries like Afghanistan, but we tailored it to the local context”, explains Shihab. The concept of Fellows is very simple. It is about identifying young volunteers who are keen to bring about change in their situation, working with local communities and engaging with the local authorities. They lead on developing village plans which are captured in detail in the ‘Village Book’. “Initially, it was not easy”, says a young woman Fellow. “The local authorities wanted to know why we are having village meetings. This was not usual. We had to be very patient and persevere, and explain that we are here to support the communities develop themselves”, explained on the Fellows. Initially, this was done in the villages that came under ActionAid supported ‘Local Rights Programme’ (LRP), six of them covering a little under 200 villages. “But now, the local authorities are so enthusiastic about it that we have trained even more Fellows”, says Orlene, one of the senior staff members. “Our Fellows now have the confidence of not just developing these detailed Village Books, but also negotiating with the local authorities to make sure that action is taken on some of the key issues, which often relate to education, electricity, water and health”. “Given the growing recognition of the importance of Village Books and how it helps local governments to plan and use their budgets effectively, this is now being taken up by many regions and states, with endorsement from the highest level including chief ministers and union ministers”, says Tauhid, the Head of Programmes. “This is a great opportunity to make sure that the process of decentralisation delivers to the local communities”, says Upendra who advises on governance issues.

Our visit to the Magway region was a great opportunity for us to meet several Fellows who have developed these plans and are using these as documents to constantly engage with the government. “This is very much framed within a rights based approach”, says Aung, who is the Regional Head for Magway regional programme of ActionAid. “These processes empower the local communities and give them the confidence to mobilise local resources and the government in their development programme”.

Another noteworthy aspect of the programme is their focus on enterprise development as a way to empower women and girls through an initiative called the Socio-Economic Development Network funded by a group of external donors. This programme creates marketing outlets for a wide range of handicraft products made by local women’s enterprise for their sustainable livelihood. An outlet in the tourist centre of Bagan, known for its archeological heritage is being further developed to take advantage of an estimated 300,000 tourists who visit Bagan. But this has also led the team to think of other opportunities. One of them is the idea of community tourism.

A couple of years ago, ActionAid supported the local community to build a small dam in this area also referred to as the Dry Zone, to serve as a water catchment. With water now available, the area has been transformed with lush green vegetation. The local community is now being supported to set up a small hotel which can host a batch of 16 tourists at a time, who will also be exposed to the local villages, their culture, traditions and food. In the first year, on a conservative estimate, they expect to raise $ 55,000 which will be used for local development funds. Of course, they also expect that the tourists will also be purchasing the SEDN projects which would mean an increased inflow of resources into the local community. They have tied up with the local Ministry of Tourism to promote this as a partnership between the government and the local community, and also with the local hotels and tour guides.

A theme that runs through very strongly through all the programmes of ActionAid Myanmar is their focus on women and girls. As part of the DFID funded ‘She Can’ project, they are implementing a programme on analysisng issues of women’s safety and using the information to negotiate with the local authorities on public services. “Men and women may have the same needs but for different reasons. We want the authorities to understand what the priorities of women are and why that is the case, as their voice is rarely heard”, says Melanie who advises on the project. Li Lwen, a team member of the women’s rights project concurs. “It is important for us to encourage women and girls to talk about some of their issues, especially the more sensitive ones around their safety and sexual abuse, and to discuss it at a community level to change attitudes of people”, she says, as she explains a community mapping project that was done in the peri urban area of Yangon to identify areas that are unsafe for women, and also identifying possible solutions to address these.

“Our work is built on developing strong relationship with the government, so that they are convinced about our approach and the rationale behind our thinking”, says Sitali, who is part of the programmes team. “It is all about relationships”, says Shihab. “In the context of Myanmar, it was not easy at all for an international NGO like ActionAid to start working. But gradually, by ensuring that our work is rooted in local communities, we have built trust, confidence and relationships. The government now sees as as a key resource as we come up with tangible solutions to addressing some key challenges. That is the reason why we also have a high credibility with a range of organisations from the NGO, international community and the private sector. And this needs to be sustained”, he says. With the energy, enthusiasm and creativity that I witnessed in the team, I am sure this will indeed be the case !

(Since then, the NLD party led by Aung San Sui Kyi has won the Myanmar elections and have formed a government)