UN in Liberia Lauds NACCEL for FGM ban in Montserrado County

The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) has been permanently banned in Liberia following a proclamation by the Chairperson of the National Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia (NACCEL), Chief Zanzan Karwor during the commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance against FGM in Sonkay Town, Montserrado County on 6 February, 2023.

Declaring the ban, Chief Karwor said, “On behalf of my people, by the power vested in me, as Chairman of all the traditional Chiefs in 15 Counties, FGM is banned in this country.” He also called on Chiefs and Elders to share the message around the country.

Declaring the ban, Chief Karwor said, “On behalf of my people, by the power vested in me, as Chairman of all the traditional Chiefs in 15 Counties, FGM is banned in this country.” He also called on Chiefs and Elders to share the message around the country.

Massa Kandakai, Head Zoe (traditional practitioner) for Montserrado County, accepted Chief Karwor’s pronouncement to end FGM. She disclosed that all her Zoes have abandoned their tools and were ready for a new lease of life. “Once our Chief has ordered us to stop, we accept the ban on FGM and we will not do it,” said Ms. Kandakai.

Ahead of the ban, traditional leaders conducted a traditional ceremony where all FGM practitioners returned the tools and permits they used to practice FGM. The rituals necessitated them to effect the ban. Similar rituals will be performed in the remaining 10 FGM practicing Counties to ensure that FGM is totally eliminated in the whole country.

Several pronouncements have been previously made by NACCEL in an effort to eliminate FGM in Liberia. These include the Ganta Declaration to suspend FGM for one year in 2019 and a further three-year ban from 2022 to 2025. The latest pronouncement by Chief Karwor in Sonkay Town is the most emphatic as it is calling for a permanent and not a temporary ban.

UN Women Goodwill Ambassador on FGM and child marriage, Jaha Dukureh, reiterated Liberia’s progress on the fight against FGM, adding that Liberia is no longer focused on suspension of FGM for three years but on banning it. Ambassador Dukureh, a stalwart in the fight against FGM, congratulated the females zoes “for standing up for the rights of African women by freely accepting to prohibit FGM.”

Members of the International community who attended the event also congratulated Liberia for the landmark decision to end FGM. The Head of the European Union Delegation to Liberia, Ambassador Laurent Delahousse said, “If I were a little girl born in Africa, I would be happy today. Happy as all the little girls of Montserrado County because today marks the entry of your beautiful county into a new era, the era when modernity is reconciled with tradition, the era of initiation without mutilation.”

Furthermore, the Vice President of Liberia, Chief Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor commended Chief Zanzan Karwor, traditional leaders, Ambassadors, UN, and friends of Liberia for the achievements. She appealed to development partners to help furnish the vocational and heritage center in Montserrado County where the event was held.

Through the United Nations, European Union and Government of Liberia Spotlight Initiative, UN Women established four vocational and heritage centres in four Counties, namely Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa and Nimba to provide alternative economic livelihood programs to traditional practitioners as part of interventions to eliminate FGM in Liberia. The centres will serve as dedicated learning centres for traditional practitioners and young women and girls to acquire new livelihood skills.

UN Women Liberia Country Representative, Ms. Comfort Lamptey, read the UN Secretary-General’s message in observance of the International Day of Zero Tolerance against FGM in which, the SG called on all “men and boys everywhere to join in speaking out and stepping forward to end FGM for the benefit of all.”

The United Nations and European Union have been supporting the Government of Liberia to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls including harmful practices such as FGM through the Spotlight Initiative.