Daniela Colombo - President, Italian Association for Women in Development (AIDOS) - DFID Girl Summit 2014

"AIDOS has always looked at FGM/C as a social norm based on gender relations." Daniela Colombo

Panel Discussion: Spotlight on Progress "Brands, Media and Communications: Powerful Tools to Shift Social Norms for Girls"

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 government ministers across the issues of female genital mutilation (FGM) (also FGM/C - female genital mutilation/cutting) and child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM). Girl Summit is a project of the Department for International Development (DFID), UK.

Profile of speaker: A featured panelist of this Spotlight session was Daniela Colombo, President of the Italian Association for Women in Development (AIDOS), whose presentation was entitled "Abandoning FGM on FM in Africa. Daniela Colombo ...spoke about her organisation’s initiatives on FGM, which they have worked on since 1986 at community and national levels, and since 2008 with the UN [United Nations] Joint Programme, emphasising the issue of social norms and gender power relations." According to an interview with IRIN, Colombo is an advocacy expert on FGM, with nearly 30 years' experience fighting its harmful practices.

Strategy overview: Ms. Colombo spoke about the work of AIDOS beginning with women in Somalia and then in 12 African countries, in Italy with migrant communities, and at the advocacy level within the European Union (EU) and internationally. She described the AIDOS view that FGM/C is a social norm that is based on silent power relations between genders, concerning, for example, the economics of reproduction. Thus, focusing on changing the norms means raising the consciousness of women, improving their material conditions, supporting their rights, and meeting their needs. These include the rights to health, education, inheritance, ownership of land, and work in the modern sector. Support from those in power in communities is necessary: husbands, religious leaders, health professionals, teachers, and policy makers.

AIDOS' role is to provide capacity building and technical backstopping to local and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on design of awareness-raising information campaigns, using different methodologies depending on the focus audience. The content of campaigns is generated locally. Training programmes for media professionals have changed over time, as media changes, for example, radio journalists training - delivered through the UNFPA (United Nationals Population Fund)/UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) Joint programme on FGM/C in five African countries - has included the production of audio-documentaries. The internet, now that there is audio sharing that can be broadcast on radio, has become an allied tool. That project is entitled "Changing FGM on FM." "Audio-documentaries convey a vivid picture of a particular issue." Like a video documentary, an “audio doc” can use environmental sound and participant voices; however, it can better protect interviewees’ identity, "allowing those who have already abandoned the tradition to speak out and share their experience, thus providing role models closer to real life for other women and men who are considering the choice of giving up the practice, particularly in rural areas." Colombo stressed that data show that more people claim support of the abandonment of the tradition than are actually speaking out on abandoning it, because they fear social sanctions.

AIDOS has produced two manuals, one technical for radio journalists and one on FGM, for the engaged media. They were created "in collaboration with the Centre for Reproductive Rights in New York [and] tested...in a training course [with] trainers for Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Eritrea." Colombo reviewed results of an evaluation which found that audio documentaries were an effective method. The main recommendations of the evaluation were: to produce the "audio docs" in local languages; to train people in local community radio stations with the most modern tools for production and broadcast; to expand training time and conduct a follow-up training, especially when technology changes; and to play the documentaries with community-based listening groups on a regular basis in order to increase engagement and motivation.

Overview of this Summit session: From the Girl Summit summary document: "New and traditional media, brand platforms and communications strategies are proven tools that have triggered discussions and shifted perceptions. Speakers will give examples of how these tools are being used to change how girls see themselves and are perceived in their communities, as well to elevate the dialogue on key issues to national levels and beyond."

The speakers, in order of appearance, are:

Susan Shabangu, Minister of Women in the Presidency, South Africa.

Daniela Colombo, President, AIDOS - Italian Association for Women in Development.

Dr. Ben Cislaghi, Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning, Tostan.

Bruktawit Tigabu Tadesse, Co-founder, Whizz Kids.

Efua Dorkenoo, Programme Director, End FGM/C Social Change Campaign.

Poonam Muttreja (Executive Director, Population Foundation of India.

Kate Wedgwood (Country Director, Girl Hub Rwanda) .

Dr Amal Mahmoud Abdalla (Secretary General of National Council for Child Welfare).

The session is moderated by Eric Levine, Interim 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 individuals and organisations committed to working on girls' issues, as well as a list of Girl Summit Charter signatories.