From the Guardian · · 2m
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.
In brief
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 how to end it, but they have been starved of money at the exact moment bans are being challenged in court. Originally reported by the Guardian.
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.
The one thing
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.
