Ghana Improves Cross-border Collab to Root Out FGM as Over 230 Million Girls Live with Impact

Ghana says cross-border collaboration and information-sharing have been enhanced to root out Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), an act that violates the fundamental rights of women and girls, causing irreversible harm to life, health, and freedom.

Following Ghana’s criminalisation of the act in the mid-1990s, accompanied by its strengthened legal amendments, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) observes a decline in prevalence.

However, the Ministry, UNFPA, and other stakeholders have realised that babies and girls are taken across the national borders into neighbouring countries to evade Ghana’s legal framework.

“This cross-border shift pushes the practice into secrecy, complicates detection and enforcement, and exposes girls to more dangers the law was meant to prevent,” the Ministry said in a joint statement with the UNFPA.

In addition, it observes that FGM remains most persistent in parts of the Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, and Bono Regions, particularly around border districts and communities where family ties, social norms, and mobility extend beyond national boundaries.

It therefore stated that legal reform alone cannot end the practice as a lasting change requires continuous engagement with communities, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, health workers, educators, and law enforcement agencies, as well as predictable and flexible funding to sustain prevention, protection, and response efforts over time.

“To address emerging risks, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, working in partnership with UNFA and other stakeholders, is strengthening community-based surveillance in high-risk areas, expanding safe spaces for girls, and integrating GM prevention into education, sexual and reproductive health services, child protection, and social welfare programmes. Efforts are also underway to improve cross-border collaboration and information-sharing to prevent girls from being taken outside Ghana for FGM.”

This has become crucial as more than 230 million girls and women globally live with the consequences, while an additional 23 million are estimated to be subjected to the menace by 2030.

In a statement marking the day, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative, Dr Wilfred Ochan, also highlighted the importance of safeguarding national progress.

“Ghana has made remarkable progress over the past three decades, but continued coordinated efforts from all stakeholders, particularly affected communities, are essential to sustain the progress.”

This year’s theme for International Day for Zero Tolerance for FGM is “Towards 2030: No End To Female Genital Mutilation without Sustained Commitment And Investment.”

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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