Issue 2: 30 September 2013

First REPLACE 2 Advisory Board meeting

It went ahead on 26 July 2013. The REPLACE 2 team from Coventry University were delighted to have the presence of some very knowledgeable, experienced and influential members, from a variety of backgrounds.

This meeting allowed the members of the board to introduce themselves and talk about how they are actively involved in working towards eradicating FGM. The REPLACE 2 team explained the outcomes of the previous REPLACE 1 project and went onto talk about the REPLACE 2 objectives and approach. The suggestions that were made by the board, as a result of an interesting discussion, are now being implemented by the REPLACE 2 team.

The partnership look forward to meeting again in January 2014, and hope to be joined by some additional members who were unable to attend during the summer period.

Other News

In July FSAN and FORWARD met in Amsterdam to evaluate the current situation of communities targeted during REPLACE 1. Initial consideration suggests that transformations have occurred in Somali and Sudanese communities. Preliminary meetings indicate that the readiness of change in both communities is quite different, but an in-depth assessment is needed.

Also in July, APF organised a community based event with Guinean Bissau recruited researchers that will collaborate on Replace 2. This first event allowed some discussion on FGM and was a first approach to the community readiness to behaviour change on migrant affected communities around Lisbon.

Two focus groups and a series of interviews with South Saharan migrants living in La Farga (Banyoles, Barcelona) were undertaken by GES between June and July with the aim of evaluating the stage of readiness to change in this community. Initial assessments indicate that this is a taboo topic which is hardly discussed in this community, particularly among the male population.

Interviews to community members from Senegal, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ivory Cost, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria were realised in Palermo by CESIE at the beginning of the summer. It was identified that members of the community have varying levels of awareness about FGM being practised in Italy.

At the end of July, Executive Director of FORWARD Naana Otoo-Oyortey MBE, took part in a Guardian podcast, to discuss the possibility of FGM being eradicated in a generation.

The REPLACE 2 is a two year project being funded by the European Commission. This project follows from the successful completion of REPLACE I in 2011. REPLACE 2 is the collaboration of six European countries, England (Coventry University and FORWARD UK), the Netherlands (FSAN), Italy (CESIE), Portugal (APF), Spain (Gabinet) and Belgium (Ghent University). REPLACE 2 will implement and evaluate the behaviour change and community-based Toolkit developed by REPLACE 1. Partners will work directly with FGM affected communities in the EU to understand the barriers to behaviour change and therefore develop tailored interventions which community groups and NGOs can utilise in future efforts to bring about the end of FGM in the EU and beyond.

Current Activities

From September, APF, CESIE and GES will be training their Community Researchers to conduct focus groups and interviews in the next few months with members of the identified affected communities. The researchers will use the behaviour change approach and the evolution of the REPLACE 1 Framework to develop the schedules for the research, which is expected to involve around 120 men and women.

In Alphen aan de Rijn and Zwolle in The Netherlands and London in UK, focus groups will take place as a kick-off for a training process on community readiness and will involve more than 30 people from the Somali and Sudanese communities.

These activities are part of the process of preparation for the interventions that partners will undertake in 2014.

Relevant Publications

Coventry University is currently revising the REPLACE 1 Toolkit with the last findings regarding behaviour change. If you wish to know more please refer to Brown, K., Beecham, D. and Barrett, H. (2013) The Applicability of Behaviour Change in Intervention Programmes Targeted at Ending Female Genital Mutilation in the EU: Integrating Social Cognitive and Community Level Approaches. Available online: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2013/324362/ 

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(REPLACE 2 Project Number: JUST/2011-2012/DAP/AG)
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