The Girl Generation undertakes range of activities to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for female genital mutilation

This year’s theme centred on celebrating the role that the Global Goals can play in ending female genital mutilation (FGM) in one generation. This was an especially important Zero Tolerance Day as new UNICEF statistics show that over 200 million women and girls are affected by FGM worldwide – 70 million more women and girls than previously thought.

To help spark more global conversation around FGM, we carried out various communications activities, which included call to action page on the website, sharing a series of infographics on social media, publishing a new Zero Tolerance Day blog, and hosting a writing competition for young people in Nigeria.

In our focal African countries, a wide range of activities took place. We organised Twitter chats in Gambia and Nigeria where lively discussions about the role of young people in the end FGM movement took place. In Gambia, activists took part in a march to raise their voices towards ending FGM in their generation. In Nigeria, we sponsored 15 young people to attend a major end FGM conference hosted by UNFPA and the Guardian. In Kenya, our events in Kajaido and West Pokot received coverage by the main Kenyan media outlets, and our Global Director Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell was interviewed on NTV.

All around the world, the momentum for ending FGM is growing. We are at a critical moment in the campaign, and it seems the world is finally paying attention to this issue. The Girl Generation will take the momentum gained from Zero Tolerance Day forward as we carry on our work in 2016. We hope you will join us and help make the Global Goal of ending FGM by 2030 a reality.