# A $15m bet to end FGM for good

> Donor money for FGM work is collapsing just as legal bans come under attack, and one fund is trying to reverse both.
- Title: A $15m bet to end FGM for good · the Guardian | Shortify
- Summary: Donor money for FGM work is collapsing just as legal bans come under attack, and one fund is trying to reverse both. The people closest to the practice know…
- Keywords: fgm, women's rights, global health, philanthropy, africa, news, world, 15m, bet, end, good, the Guardian
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/global-development/2026/sep/11/15m-fund-launched-to-create-unstoppable-momentum-to-end-fgm-worldwide
- Published: 2026-09-11T04:00:04+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: fgm, women's rights, global health, philanthropy, africa, news, world
## A new fund lands
Frontline activists welcomed $15.5m aimed at building "unstoppable momentum" to end female genital mutilation, a practice that has affected more than 230 million women and girls.

> unstoppable momentum
## The money is drying up
It arrives as women's rights come under attack and donor funding drops, especially for survivor-led work in local communities. It is thought to be the largest single philanthropic gift to ending FGM.
## The 2030 goal slips
The UN wants FGM eliminated by 2030. The biggest programme, run by UNFPA and Unicef across 18 countries, saw funding fall 45% last year, from $29.6m to $16.3m.
## Where the $15.5m comes from
The Wallace Global Fund seeded Her Horizon Fund with $14m and an anonymous donor added $1.5m. The goal is to pool $100m and hit a tipping point within a generation.
## Somalia shows the stakes
Ifrah Ahmed lost $300,000 in UNFPA funding last year and raised it elsewhere. Her foundation helped push anti-FGM laws through three of Somalia's seven federal member states.

> If we don't continue to raise money, the dream where this practice will end will have died for young girls.
## Old wins under threat
The Gambia's supreme court is weighing a challenge to its 2015 ban, a year after parliament rejected a repeal. Sierra Leone's new Child Rights Act still does not prohibit FGM.
## Change has to come from inside
Wallace Global Fund adviser Susan Gibbs calls this a critical inflection point, with frontline groups starved of resources and direct funding the way to let them scale.

> Lasting change must be led by the frontline, it cannot be imposed from the outside.
## What FGM actually costs
Beyond severe pain, bleeding and lifelong trauma, a 2025 study estimated 44,000 deaths a year across 15 countries, making it a leading cause of death for women and girls there.
## Key takeaway

The people closest to the practice know how to end it, but they have been starved of money at the exact moment bans are being challenged in court.