Skip to content
Home » About Us

About Us

    About Us
      History– Mission– Objectives– Activities– Governance– Partners
    History
    INTACT emerged as an outcome of a meeting organized in 2002 by the Population Council in Bellagio, Italy. The meeting aimed at reviewing the status of FGM/C research, identifying gaps and proposing program and research priorities. Participants in that meeting agreed to form the founding membership of a research network that would bring the evidence of good science to bear on important unanswered questions surrounding the practice and persistence of FGM/C. The group chose the name INTACT network, and formed smaller task forces to work on building the network’s membership and activities, securing funding, and moving toward publication of important studies related to the field.
    INTACT founding members come from different backgrounds and have different areas of expertise: research, gender, health care, public health, sociology and anthropology. They also represent different countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sudan, Sweden and USA.
    Top

    INTACT founding members
    Amna Abdel Rahman  Nahla Abdel Tawab – Lars Almroth – Ian Askew -Stella Bablola – Jane Chege  Abdelhady Eltahir  Amel Fahmy – Barbara Ibrahim – Elizabeth Jackson – Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer  Ezzeldin Osman Hassan – Jim Phillips – Evely Sakeah – Gilda Sedgh – Bettina Shell Duncan – Nahid Toubia – Kathryn Yount.
    Mission
    INTACT’s mission is to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C through enhancing communication among researchers, activists and policy makers; and promoting utilization of research results to guide policies and programs.
    Top
    Objectives

    • Disseminate research results and best practices in abandonment of FMG/C.
    • Create a forum for exchange of experience and lessons learned at both local and international areas.
    • Contribute to the  development of  evidence-based policies and programs to accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C.

    Top

    Activities

    • An English e-newsletter that summarizes latest news and events in the field of FGM/C.
    • A website with English, Arabic and French interfaces providing up-to-date documents and information l on FGM/C.
    • Local and international seminars to present  research evidence and best practices on abandonment of FGM/C.
    • Capacity building activities for NGOs to enhance the effectiveness of programs against FGM/C.
    • A quarterly Arabic newsletter, Bedaya (A beginning), that targets Arabic speaking  researchers and activists in Africa and the Middle East.

    Top

    Governance

    INTACT is managed by the Population Council and governed by a steering committee comprised of INTACT founding members as well as prominent local and international figures working in the field of FGM/C.  This committee provides feedback and guidance on INTACT’s activities, accomplishments and areas where improvement is needed.
    Top
    Partners
    INTACT works in collaboration with local and international organizations in countries where FGM/C is practiced. This website has been constructed with generous support of the  UNFPA – UNICEF Joint Program on FGM , Wallace Gobal Fund and the Population Council.
    Top