Sana Uqba - Middle East and North Africa Regional Consulting (MENARC) LilYemen - DFID Girl Summit 2014

"She is seven years old - I hear her cries; my heart breaks. I'm calling out to you but my voice never reaches." Excerpted poem by Sana Uqba

Panel Discussion: Spotlight on Progress - "All Aboard: Strategies to Engage Girls, Boys, Men, Women and Whole Communities for Change"

Context:  This presentation is from one of the 14 "Spotlights on Progress" video-recorded sessions from the Girl Summit 2014, London, United Kingdom (UK). The sessions were organised to share best practice between practitioners, grassroots activists, and ministers of governments across the issues of female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM). Girl Summit is a project of the Department for International Development, UK.

A featured panelist of this Spotlight session was Sana Uqba, who is Campaigns and Publicity Manager for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Consulting (MENARC) LilYemen campaign in Yemen and among the Yemeni diaspora, UK. MENARC is the lead partner in the LilYemen Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of early marriage, violence against children, and FGM/C in Yemen through a culturally sensitive approach. (See video below, which starts with this featured speaker.)

Profile of speaker:  Sana Uqba from MENARC shared some of the lessons LilYemen have learned so far with a particular focus on the importance of public pledges and the involvement of men and boys in ‘female’ issues. By way of introducing her presentation, Uqba read her poem on a child's experience of FGM.
 

Strategy overview: According to MENARC: "One in ten Yemani girls will be married before they turn 15 years; one in five will undergo FGM." Uqba described MENARC's widespread support from Yemeni communities in UK and Yemen with their focus on changing mind sets through workshops for the UK diaspora beginning in Sheffield and going on to Liverpool, Birmingham, and Cardiff. They aim to "address the root cause by working on a personal level. Being of Arab Yemeni descent, I know that you have to approach people the right way, with cultural sensitivity, or they will fight you and be stubborn in resisting change. We are engaging young men - they are the future - and distributing wrist bands. We need to change the whole society by bringing everyone on board."

Uqba emphasised the need to make sure that contact with communities is not patronising or condescending in any way and that the tone is not accusatory, causing people to become defensive and protective of their customs and culture. Her strategy is to come to people as part of their community and, in cooperation with them, stigmatise the practices of FGM and CEFM. "LilYemen works with women and girls, men and boys to comprehensively tackle gender-based discrimination and children’s rights. The campaign engages both the diaspora as well as Yemenis in country to raise awareness to these issues, encouraging communities to pledge to ending FGM and early marriage - to sign a...[public pledge] and wear a specifically designed bracelet to publically demonstrate their support." Uqba emphasised the need to include men and boys because, she pointed out, changing the whole society means bringing the whole society into the conversation.

Click here to see a video of the LilYemen - Sheffield Workshop.

Click here for the LilYemen YouTube channel. 

Click here for the LilYemen Facebook and Twitter pages.

Overview of this Summit Session: From the Girl Summit summary document: "This session recognises the importance and power of community members and the structures to drive social change for girls - including the importance of engaging men and boys. Here we explore a range of different strategies for working with whole communities to promote abandonment of FGM and child, early and forced marriage. We learn more about the role of championing from within, bringing men and boys into the picture, the power of working through pre-existing structures to promote conversation and commitment to change and exploring the role of the disparate communities in the form of diaspora groups.

The session is opened by Ziauddin Yousafzai Honorary Chairman, The Malala Fund.

The speakers, in order of appearance, are:
Rugiatu Neneh Turay Founder of the Amazonian Initiative Movement
Nasheima Sheikh Assistant CEO, Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid
Sana Uqba Campaigns and Publicity Manager, Middle East and North Africa Regional Consulting
Sabitra Dhakal Project Manager, CARE International
Agnes Pareyio Founder of the Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative

The session is moderated by Eric Levine, CEO, Stars Foundation."

Footage of this (available below) and other "Spotlights" are available on DFID’s YouTube channel.

The Girl Summit is a project of DFID. Click here and scroll down to see the full list of committed individuals and organisations working on girls' issues, as well as a list of Girl Summit Charter signatories.