Ten new clubs have been formed to fight female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in Tarime District, Mara Region.
The clubs involve school and out of school girls as well as young mothers, according to Mr Kambibi Kamugisha, the Project Coordinator at Children’s Dignity Forum (CDF), a local NGO leading on-going campaigns against FGM, child marriage and teenage pregnancies in the country.
“The major function of the clubs is to fight FGM and child marriage, and they will also be providing life skills in schools,” Ms Kambibi told reporters in Tarime yesterday.
She said formation of the clubs is part of implementation of the second phase of a project called Mobilising Action to safeguard rights of girls in Tanzania, or Haki ya Binti in Kiswahili.
The project is supported by Forward UK and Comic Relief also from the UK, and it is expected to save a number of girls who are lined up to undergo FGM in Tarime in December this year. Mr Kambibi said the project is being implemented in five wards of Nkende, Mwema, Susuni, Matongo and Manga.
She also mentioned beneficiary schools to include Kwigenge, Nkende, Nyabichune, Kiongera and Bisarwi primary schools. Tarime is one of the districts of Mara region where FGM is widely conducted.
It is estimated that about 1,600 girls were mutilated in 2014 alone. FGM is said to be the major source of massive school drop-outs among young girls and child marriages in the region.
FGM is illegal according to the law, but some communities are still seeing the harmful practice as an important culture