Girls’ Alliance for future leadership, a local group, is calling for a halt to female genital mutilation, including all forms of abuses against young girls in Africa, particularly Liberia.
Speaking over the weekend in commemoration of “Day of the African Child” GA Secretary General Aquila Saah, describes FGM as evil, noting that it does nothing positive but rather robs the girl child of a better future.
She further laments that the practice is an embodiment of pain and problems both physical and psychological saying, “People, who are not in your shoes, find it difficult to understand how it feels.”
Aquila demands zero tolerance in mutilation, abuse, disparity and early marriage, stressing that a girl’s worth is based on what she has in her hand, something that is achievable through education.
She continues that for the past 11-years, the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has allegedly failed to pass laws, criminalizing female genital mutilation, adding “Sometimes adults brand young people as disrespectful and rude when the youth dare challenge their excesses.”
She recalls that award winning Liberian female Journalist Mae Azango couple of years ago went into hiding because she wrote few articles against FGM.According to her, traditional leaders, who are considered allies of the President declared war against Mae Azango, adding “that entire unfortunate thing happened under a Nobel Laureate, who is the first female president in Africa.
Aquila emphasizes that if the government failed to protect those, who speak for the rights of others then what becomes the fate of the oppressed.She says even in the face of heavy presence of the international community in Liberia, the country remains undemocratic when it comes to the right to peacefully gather and protest, adding that highlighting this state of affairs is critical for members of the girl’s alliance for future leadership.