written by: Bernard Otu Assim-ita
Female Genital Mutilation is often hidden behind culture, fear and the belief that certain harm is simply tradition. This one reality millions of girls face. Yet, each year, the world chooses one day to break the silence on zero tolerance for violence against millions of girls’ bodies.
For Education as a Vaccine (EVA), 2026 International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM was not only a moment of commemoration. It was a reminder that ending FGM is not a distant policy goal. It is a daily responsibility that lives in communities, classrooms, and in the voices of young people learning that they have the right to say no.
To mark the day, EVA partnered with YouthHub Africa in a national webinar supported by UNFPA, bringing together advocates, government institutions, and civil society actors committed to ending the practice in Nigeria. The webinar opened with remarks from UNFPA, UNICEF, the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, setting a clear tone that the elimination of FGM requires more than statements of intent. It requires coordinated action that reaches beyond conference rooms and into everyday life.
EVA actively moderated key sessions of the webinar, guiding conversations on how national policies can be translated into institutional action, how domestic investment can be strengthened to sustain progress, and how multi-sectoral alliances can work together to close the persistent funding gap. These discussions were anchored around one central question – how do we ensure that commitments made at national level result in real protection for girls at community level?
Participants emphasized the importance of community-led social norms transformation, noting that sustainable change happens when communities themselves are supported to challenge harmful practices. The conversations also highlighted the need to scale innovative financing models and strengthen collaboration across health, education, and social sectors if Nigeria is to achieve its goal of becoming an FGM-free country by 2030.
Short video vignettes were woven into the sessions, reinforcing key messages and grounding the discussions in lived realities. They served as quiet reminders that this issue is not abstract. It is lived in bodies, memories, and futures.
Beyond the virtual space, EVA understood that commemoration must also reach those most at risk. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, EVA engaged students of Government Secondary School, Kuchingoro, and Jescare International School Saburi, Dei Dei creating a safe and open space to speak directly about the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation and the role young people can play in stopping the practice.
The atmosphere in the classroom was attentive and thoughtful. Students listened closely as difficult truths were discussed, some leaning forward in curiosity, others sitting quietly as they processed new information. When the question-and-answer session began, several students chose to submit anonymous questions. One asked, “If something has been done for so long, how do we convince people it should stop?” Another asked, “How can we help our friends stay safe?”
Each question was met with care and honesty. The responses acknowledged the weight of tradition while affirming that change often begins with awareness, dialogue, and young people who are willing to speak up. In that moment, the commemoration moved beyond awareness and became an act of empowerment.
To encourage continued learning and advocacy, EVA distributed notebooks sponsored by the organization to the students. It was a simple but meaningful gesture, reinforcing the message that education remains one of the strongest tools for protecting girls and ending harmful practices.
The day’s engagements concluded with a collective call to action, urging participants, partners, and stakeholders to work together with urgency and accountability. Ending FGM in Nigeria will require sustained investment, community ownership, and a shared commitment to safeguarding the rights and wellbeing of girls.
Through these activities, EVA played a central role in shaping dialogue, moderating critical conversations, and ensuring that commemoration translated into meaningful action at both national and community levels. Because the end of FGM will not come through words alone. It will come through consistent action, courageous conversations, and communities choosing, again and again, to protect their girls.
And sometimes, that change begins in a classroom in Kuchingoro, with a student brave enough to ask the question that breaks the silence.