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Cooperation agreement between UNICEF and WADI to combat FGM in Northern Iraq

UNICEF and WADI just signed a contract to boost the ongoing campaign for the elimination of Female Genital Mutilation in Northern Iraq.

This program is focusing on training and empowering six local NGOs from Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk, who later should be able to implement wide range projects including the establishment of new FGM Free Communities, awareness raining campaigns throughout the region as well as the operation of Mobile Female lead teams in rural areas.

Since 2013 the UN officially acknowledged that FGM is widely spread in Northern Iraq and has set up various programs to help combating it. This was one of the major demands of the Stop FGM Kurdistan campaign, Wadi has helped to set up in 2007.

The cooperation with UNICEF is another major step to fight FGM in Iraq. The Iraqi Kurdish parliament has banned the practice by law in 2011.