A GREAT STORY ! – How Kurdistan ended female genital mutilation (I)

The dramatic change in the village of Toutakal is part of a campaign funded by a local charity — Germany’s Wadi — to end FGM in the Middle East.

Dear Friends and Supporters of WADI Germany ,

Recently BBC World, BBC Arabic and Guardian Films got interested in the campaign to eliminate FGM in Kurdistan. Together with our friends and colleagues, the two filmmakers Nabaz Ahmed and Shara Amin, and with financial support of our Dutch partner Hivos they produced an impressive film .

You can watch a short version of this film on the Guardian’s homepage: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/24/female-genital-mutilation-film-changing-kurdistan-law?

The BBC is going to air it both in Arabic and English in the coming days:

“Today, Tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, the BBC will air its documentary about the struggle against FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan. A must see:

‘Our World: Dropping the knife – Kurdistan’, presented by Shaimaa Khalil, is produced by BBC Arabic and the Guardian, and will be broadcast on:

BBC World News’s Our World: on Friday, October 25th at 23.30 GMT; on Saturday, October 26th at 11.30 GMT; and on Sunday, October 27th at 1730 and 22.30 GMT.

BBC Arabic TV on Monday 28th October 19.05 GMT.”

Shaimaa Khalil, who was involved in producing the films, also wrote a moving piece for Gulf News. The title is a bit over optimistic, FGM is far from eliminated in Iraqi-Kurdistan, but we have seen a  lot of progress during the last years.