October 31, 2023. Kampala, Uganda | Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera has administered the oath to 88 acting Grade One Magistrates in Uganda while emphasizing the importance of their roles and conduct. Flagging off a…
![Boko Mohammed, a former excisor (a practitioner who performs FGM/C), holds the tool she used to perform the procedure at a community meeting in Kabele Village, in Amibara District, Afar Region. Boko no longer performs FGM/C. The meeting was organized by the Rohi-Weddu Pastoral Women Development Organization. UNICEF staff members are also in attendance. [#1 IN SEQUENCE OF EIGHT] In November 2009 in Ethiopia, the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) continues to decline as local communities, government authorities and international agencies encourage communities to abandon harmful practices. An estimated three million girls in Africa still undergo FGM/C each year, a procedure that can cause infection, chronic pain, complications during pregnancy and delivery, and increased rates of neonatal mortality. But holistic development initiatives that engage local communities, including leaders and women, are making a difference. Such programmes focus on health issues including HIV/AIDS, family planning and harmful traditional practices, while offering a forum for community members to find solutions to common problems. Grounded in human rights principles, respect for participants’ culture and views, and recognition that genuine change takes time, these programmes have led to increased rejection of FGM/C and other harmful practices. Ethiopia has one of the highest FGM/C prevalence rates in the world, but community dialogues have enabled 70 districts to enforce laws criminalizing the procedure, and four of the country’s districts have pledged to abandon it entirely. Nevertheless, the practice remains widespread, particularly in regions that practice infibulation, the most severe form of FGM/C. UNICEF, with the support of the European Commission, is partnering with local NGOs such as the Rohi-Weddu Pastoral Women Development Organization. Rohi-Weddu, which means ‘life saving’ in the Afarigna language, conducts community dialogues about harmful social practices and promotes education and training for women in the Afar Region. UNICEF also supports the Ethiopian Nurse Midwife Association and the Health Extension Workers, who are integrating the abandonment of FGM/C into existing maternal-child health clinics and programmes. Globally, human-rights-based development methodologies with social-change perspectives are helping communities abandon a variety of practices harmful to girls and women, including child marriage, domestic violence and impediments to girls’ education.](https://juralmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FGM-600x400.jpg "UK Court Convicts Woman of Involvement in Landmark FGM Case")
31st October 2023 London, | A UK court has convicted a woman of her role in female genital mutilation (FGM) involving a British toddler during a trip to Kenya 17 years ago. Amina Noor, a…
October 26, 2023 MUKONO, Uganda | The High Court in Mukono has ordered a fresh hearing in the ongoing Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test legal battle involving city lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi and his alleged siblings….
October 25, 2023 PAVIA, Italy, | A 75-year-old Italian mother from the city of Pavia has successfully won a court case to evict her two sons, aged 40 and 42, who had been residing in…
October 24, 2023 LUWEERO, Uganda | In a remarkable display of forgiveness and compassion, a woman negotiated a lenient sentence for her husband, who had conspired to have her killed, in a shocking case that…
October 24, 2023 KAMPALA, Uganda, | The State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the Uganda Police have arraigned a Kampala based lawyer Mkwe Eric Geoffrey, also known as Okello, before the KCCA Chief Magistrates Court in…
October 24, 2023 Kampala, Uganda, | The Court of Appeal has delivered a decisive blow to AYA Investments, dismissing their attempts to block the sale of the renowned Pearl of Africa Hotel, one of the…
October 24, 2023 KAMPALA, Uganda, | The High Court in Kampala has rendered a ruling dismissing the case brought against the Most Rev. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, by…
October 24, 2023 KAMPALA, Uganda,| Two male adults are currently in police custody in Kampala, facing charges related to promoting homosexuality in the country after they were reportedly caught engaging in what authorities describe as…
October 24, 2023. WASHINGTON, D.C. | Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer for ex-U.S. President Donald Trump, has tearfully pleaded guilty to a single felony count in the ongoing criminal racketeering case surrounding baseless claims of…
