Founding
Document
INTACT:
A Network for FGM/C Research and Change
Background
Through the initiative
of the Population Council, a meeting was organized at the Bellagio
Conference Centre between April 29 and May 3rd, 2002
to review the status of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C)
research, identify important gaps, and propose research priorities.
Another important objective of the meeting was to develop a network
of researchers, program managers, and other relevant individuals
and institutions} to ��enhance communication
and �research
utilization in this field. The most crucial function of this network,
which would differentiate it from other networks, is to bring scientific
evidence and analysis to bear on the practice of FGM/C and the societal
changes needed to see its demise.
In the weeks following
the meeting in Bellagio, an internet-based discussion took place
between the participants that has further advanced the objectives,
mechanisms and priorities of the proposed network. A technical committee
was formed, as well as task groups to work on launching a website,
publishing a monograph of the Bellagio papers, and developing funding
proposals to support future activities of the network.� A draft
founding document circulated over the summer to the group for comment
and is now in its second round of revisions.� A list of the Bellagio
conference participants, considered the founding members of the
network, is attached.�
To provide continuity,
Dr. Barbara Ibrahim of the Councils regional program for West
Asia and North Africa offered the facilities of her Cairo office
to coordinate the work of the technical committee in launching the
network. Dr. Nahid Toubia, President of RAINBO, has offered the
resources and experience of Rainbo to help expand the network membership,
provide technical support to the website, and generate phased plans
to ensure the network achieves its objectives.� The network will
be strengthened to the extent that it is able to expand its active
membership to include other key institutions and individuals with
strengths in FGM/C research. That is an immediate priority, along
with launch of the website, which is currently under construction
and may be viewed at: www.INTACT-network.net�
The sections that follow outline the rationale
and mission statement for INTACT, as well as the governing principles,
working mechanisms, and a plan of action for the launching phase
of the network. It would be desirable in the future for the Network
to become a self-sustaining, independent institution or be housed
permanently in an Africa-based organization.
Need for a Network
in the campaign against FGM/C started over 20 years ago, marked
by the World Health Organization sponsored conference in Khartoum
in 1979, interest in this issue has increased progressively. Policies
were announced and projects were funded to target the practice,
but little investment was made to guide these policies and projects
with evidence-based information. The involvement of different actors
in different countries with varying assumptions and values resulted
in the development of diverse approaches to stopping the practice.
Only recently has attention started to be given to objectively evaluating
these approaches and their outcomes.
area has been the introduction of a voluntary module on FGM/C in
the Demographic and Health Survey, DHS, questionnaire. As a result
better national data started to emerge since 1994 and today we have
nine countries with base-line data and prevalence figures that could
be used to monitor change.
campaign against FGM/C, however, we find that we face the following
important limitations:
� An
insufficient base of research to provide crucial information to
support advocacy strategies and intervention designs.
� Limited
investment in developing methods to evaluate effectiveness, monitor
progress, and create analytical frameworks to understand the process
of social change.
� Absence
of venues to disseminate research findings and facilitate dialogue
between researchers and policy-makers, program planners and activists.
The success
of the campaign against FGM/C is greatly disadvantaged by the fact
that scientists involved in research on FGM/C lack opportunities
to share insights, technical expertise and the findings of their
research. The result of this is often a sense of isolation among
those working on FGM/C research, rendering the field less attractive
to new and capable researchers, which is essential to providing
new energies and creativity to any research field.�
Since research on FGM/C takes place
across a number of disciplines, investigators conducting clinical,
social science and operations research on FGC would benefit greatly
from links to one another to create opportunities to collaborate
and to advance their techniques and methodology.
Finally, since research on FGC is marginalized it is also
underutilized. There remains great potential for strengthening the
lines of communication between FGC researchers and those working
in other fields of health that are gender, cultural and socially
bound such as HIV/AIDS, early marriage and domestic violence among
others that greatly affect women and children.
�The Network:
We will address these problems through
the activities of a broadly-based network of researchers and research-minded
activists who will contribute vitally to the quality and productivity
of research on FGM/C, and strengthen the links both among researchers
and between researchers and those who can use the information they
generate.
The full name for the Network is INTACT
Network: The International Network to Analyze,
Communicate and Transform the Campaign against Female Genital Cutting.
This name was formulated during the Bellagio meeting and was accepted
by those in attendance unanimously.
General Objectives of INTACT
To promote high quality research on FGM/C and the use of
research findings to realize the full abandonment of female genital
cutting, the Network aims to:
1) Identify gaps in research knowledge and advance a research
agenda that would fill those gaps on an ongoing basis,
2) Foster collaborations and the exchange of technical expertise
among FGM/C researchers working in various institutions, disciplines
and geographic areas; and between them and others working in related
fields,
3) Disseminate pertinent research findings to members of
the media, policy makers, program planners and others who can translate
them into actions aimed at promoting the abandonment of FGM/C.
4) Organize formal training and develop and disseminate materials
that will translate research findings into actionable intervention
designs, monitoring and evaluation tools, and effective indicators
to speed the process of social change.
Mission Statement
The mission of the International Network to Analyze, Communicate
and Transform the Campaign against Female Genital Cutting (INTACT)
is to promote and disseminate evidence-based research and to actively
engage donors and local actors — governments and civil society
organizations — in a dialogue around applying collective learning
to accelerate positive social change.
�We will promote research that:
1) Provides evidence-based data on the
effects of FGM/C on the individual, the family and the community
to be used for persuasive messages in the social and policy dialogues
around abandoning the practice or legislating against it.
2) Promotes greater use of sociological
and behavioral research to better understand the motivation behind
continuation as well as abandonment of FGM/C in the context of
different family and community values, structures and circumstances.
3) Advances evaluation research methods
to identify reasons for change in the practice regardless of whether
they are intervention (project) or non-intervention (non-project)
related.
4) Improves data collecting tools for
epidemiological and quantitative research to monitor the change
in prevalence of FGM/C over time.
5) Facilitates the rapid and effective
utilization of research findings to guide the development of policies
and programs.
Underlying� philosophy of INTACT
about health consequences of FGM/C, careful examination of the literature
reveals that we have little scientific evidence confirming the existence
and magnitude of various physical health risks of the practice and
specifying those associated with specific forms of cutting.
the effects of FGM/C on the psychological, social and sexual well-being
of women who have been cut, their families and their partners. Misinformation
about the physical complications and lack of information on the
other consequences of the practice threaten the efficacy of the
messages delivered to the communities involved and limit our ability
to garner the support of the international donor community in our
aim to end the practice.
substantially to our understanding of the social forces that motivate
communities to continue genital cutting. Social scientists have
begun to call for research to fill our gaps in understanding the
process by which families and communities change their commitments
to the practice. Such research is vital for the success of the campaign
to promote the abandonment of FGM/C.
picture of the impact of FGM/C abandonment efforts over the past
20-25 years is constrained by the poor quality of research designs
and the absence of a research and evaluation component in many approaches
used repeatedly over the years.
have been evaluated, findings often languish in isolated reports
rather than contributing to a systematic effort to improve programs
and policies. The identification of the strengths and weakness of
various interventions, implementation of appropriate strategies,
disseminating lessons learned, and deployment of cost-effective
monitoring and evaluation systems can inform future interventions
and become vital to the progress of the campaign
The research priorities identified by the Bellagio group
may be modified once a scientific dialogue is underway by an extended
membership on all available evidence regarding what information
is most needed at the current phase of the campaign.
INTACTs Operational Strategy:�
The Network is committed to abiding by the following principles
as its structure evolves in response to demand and resources:
-
Adhere to
a clear and focused mission
-
Sustain
a lean, efficient organizational structure
-
Maintain
a base in all relevant geographic areas
-
Evolve and
grow through a process of phased implementation
-
Enlist active
participation of members who have a strong commitment to the
mission and objectives of the Network.
Proposed
Network Activities
Activities suggested by the Bellagio group to achieve the
objectives listed above are:
� Organizing periodic technical workshops
to review research advances and new gaps in FGC research as they
emerge.
The workshops will serve to both identify
gaps in research knowledge and foster the exchange of expertise
between researchers. We envisage that various member institutions
will assume responsibility for hosting the meetings on a rotating
basis. We hope that the periodic workshops will be held in countries
where FGC is prevalent as a means of publicizing the efforts of
the network in different countries and making a special effort to
expose local researchers, implementers and policy makers to research
issues.
� Launching a website. The
INTACT Website will serve both researchers who become members, as
well as the interested public. For that purpose, it will have both
free-access and pass-word protected pages and perform multiple functions,
including:
o
providing
a directory of FGM/C researchers including their contact information
and research interests;
o
publicizing
research findings and providing links to bibliographies and newly
published papers as well as working papers on FGM/C;
o announcing funding opportunities for research,
fellowships, technical workshops, and other news of relevance;�
o
Offering
a research news board at which participants can post inquiries
and exchange information on an immediate basis.
�
Periodically publish a monograph
on recent advances in FGM/C
This publication will summarize the recent findings from
research relating to FGC in a format that is accessible to a non-scientific
audience. The first monograph is being edited by a group of Bellagio
participants coordinated by Dr. Nahla Abel Tawab, for publication
early in 2003. We expect that the publication of each issue of this
series could follow a technical workshop, and will disseminate the
key insights and findings that are generated and presented at these
workshops. While print publication will make the work available
in libraries and places where internet access is limited, all publications
generated through the network will be immediately available on the
website as well.
In addition to these specific planned activities during the
start-up phase of INTACT, and as resources allow, suggestions were
made that the network pursue and identify opportunities to:
� Form
links with other organized bodies that are involved in some capacity
in advancing the campaign against FGM/C, with the goal of disseminating
information and influencing research.
� Train
young researchers and encourage them to pursue careers in FGM/C-related
work by creating funded internships, fellowships, and other training
opportunities.
� Conduct
national and regional training workshops for FGM/C program staff
on research methodologies and monitoring and evaluation of programs.
Suggested Phases For Activities
Much of the initial activities of the Network will make use
of the availability of the Internet, which provides speedy communication
in a cost-effective way. The launch and early activities of the
Network will be achieved in three phases:
Phase I: The Launch� (September 2002
September 2003)
-� Launch of web-site with founding
document for contribution by the Bellagio members. Pages are under
construction to share research and other documentation, provide
information on technical expertise within the membership of INTACT,
and to allow for posting of announcements of important events and
upcoming conferences.� Our webmaster for the construction phase
is Marlyn Tadros of Virtualactivism. ��
-� Expand the technical committee (TC).
Current members of the technical committee include Amel Fahmy (WHO),
Barbara Ibrahim (PC, Cairo), Ian Askew (PC, Nairobi), Jim Phillips
(PC, New York), and Nahid Toubia (Rainbo, London.)� It would be
useful to add a small number of new members, representing additional
institutions, geographic areas,� and perspectives. The TC will communicate
by e-mail and tele-conferencing but funding will be sought for the
TC to meet face-to-face {suggested 1-2} times a year, perhaps taking
advantage of other meetings to save on costs.
-� Expand the founding membership by
inviting key organizations and individuals whose contribution will
enhance the objectives of stimulating high quality research and
linking research to changing social behavior around FGM/C. Increasing
the number of committed institutions is important to the long-term
sustainability of the Network. It is particularly important to recruit
membership to the Network from researchers and program managers
from Africa and to involve more Africa-based institutions.
-� Develop funding proposals for the
Network to enable the network to achieve its objectives, based on
the agreed upon final� founding document. A two- year plan of activities
has been drafted by the TC/fundraising task group, with funding
proposed to channel through The Population Council, RAINBO, and
other institutions as appropriate to the activities. USAID have
committed funds beginning in summer of 2003 for one year of the
networks activities.
Phase II: Sustaining activities
This phase will consolidate the activities
started in 2002-2003 and implement the plan of activities as funding
allows. The goal of this phase will be to strengthen outreach to
a large research and policy audience and to sustain the momentum
of network membership and level of activities. During this phase
a process will be underway to identify scenarios for the appropriate
structure and permanent home for the network, ideally in an Africa-based
institution.�
Phase III: Evaluation to define long-term structure and activities
At the end of Phase II the TC will undertake a process of
evaluating the experience gained by the Network. Based on this evaluation
and in consultation with the membership, the TC and the two (or
more?) fostering institutions will formulate longer-term plans for
the structure and function of INTACT.
Interim
Structure: Phase 1 is going forward with the
volunteer efforts of interested network members. Funds raised by
the Population Council from the Rockefeller Foundation and USAID
are supporting the early coordination efforts, establishment of
a technical committee, launch of the website, and preparation of
the Bellagio monograph. Rainbo is contributing senior staff time
and the accumulated benefits of its leadership role in this field.
For the implementation of Phase II and beyond, our vision is that
activities will be realized by task forces made of members
who are professionally involved in FGM/C research in their respective
institutions. These task forces will oversee the implementation
of specific activities, such as the organization of workshops, analysis
and synthesis of research findings, commentary on the quality and
validity of research and evaluations, as well as undertake collaborative
research and training.
Membership: Membership in the network will be open to those engaged
in research on FGM/C or in related fields such as violence against
women, traditional harmful practices, etc. It will also be open
to those who are active advocates or field practitioners for the
abandonment of the practice, if they demonstrate an empirical approach
to their work.
The
general principle of membership will be to encourage inclusion of
a broad and professionally active spectrum of research-oriented
individuals and institutions. Applications for new membership may
come via recommendation from current members or by self-application
and the website. The criteria and procedures for membership will
be periodically reviewed by the technical committee to assure that
they are meeting the objectives of the network.
Resources
Recent dialogues among FGC/M researchers have uncovered a
sense that a network such as INTACT holds great promise for creating
much-needed coherence in FGM/C research and evaluation activities.
By promoting the deployment of high quality research, collaborative
activities, and the development of mechanisms for translating research
findings to widely disseminated policy and program recommendations,
INTACT should contribute greatly to the campaign to end this tragically
harmful practice.