Strengthening Partnerships to End FGM: UNICEF Team Visits TBI

We were honored to receive the UNICEF team led by Mr. Denis Onoise on a working visit to our office. The delegation included Miss Pragna, Child Protection Officer (UNICEF Abuja), and Miss Ekene, Child Protection Specialist (UNICEF Abuja), who visited Oyo State to familiarize themselves with our ongoing work on the elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Our Executive Director, Dr. Dare Olagoke-Adaramoye, warmly welcomed the team and highlighted the remarkable impact of our partnership with UNICEF in eliminating FGM across Oyo State and the southwest region since 2018. Over the years, Trailblazer Initiative Nigeria (TBI) has spearheaded numerous initiatives that have significantly contributed to the decline of FGM practices in local communities.

✅ Directly sensitized and mobilized over 1.8 million community members, including traditional leaders, women’s groups, and youth, leading to increased public commitments to end FGM.

✅ Trained over 1,000 community based organizations and Traditional Birth Attendants/health workers to serve as advocates, educate communities, support survivors, and drive interventions against FGM.

✅Successfully collaborated with religious and traditional leaders, securing public declarations renouncing FGM and fostering grassroots advocacy to challenge harmful norms.

✅ Established safe spaces for survivors to access psychosocial, health, and legal support, while also providing livelihood empowerment programs to help them rebuild their lives.

✅ Engaged Oyo State House of Assembly and key policymakers to strengthen the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law 2020, advocate for budgetary allocations, and push for stronger law enforcement on FGM cases.

✅ Engaged 2,093 U-Reporters in digital activism, and reached over 2,899,432 people through social media campaigns, survivor storytelling, and advocacy-driven content.

✅Conducted baseline studies in FGM-practicing communities to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and advocated for the creation of an FGM/Sexual Offenders Register to track cases and inform policy.

✅ Implemented the SIARP project to equip young people with advocacy and reporting skills on FGM, gender-based violence (GBV), and violence against women and children (VAWC), engaging 124 parliamentarians, 192 religious/traditional leaders, and 250 youth leaders.

✅ Partnered with UNICEF Nigeria and government officials to facilitate a State-Level Policy Advocacy Dialogue, securing commitments from Oyo State legislators to include FGM sensitization in their constituency town hall meetings and community engagements.

✅ Advocated for budgetary allocations to relevant ministries for FGM response programs, the operationalization of state/local technical committees, and parliamentary oversight to ensure proper enforcement of laws against FGM.

During the visit, the UNICEF team also engaged with key stakeholders, including representatives of the Child Protection Network (Oyo State) and the Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (Oyo State Chapter), Amb. Quadri Abdulsalam.

As part of the engagement, the team—led by our ED—visited the Chairman of the Oyo State House of Assembly Committee on Health to discuss critical policy issues. The discussions focused on strengthening the Oyo State SAC center and advancing legislative efforts to support the elimination of FGM across the state.

At Trailblazer Initiative Nigeria, we remain committed to strengthening collaborations, influencing policies, and driving sustainable change to end FGM. Together, we can create a future free from harmful traditional practices.