Wallace Global Fund, in partnership with the Human Dignity Foundation, co-sponsored the End Violence Against Girls: Summit on FGM/C, the first global FGM/C convening in the U.S., held at the United States Institute of Peace. Over 200 activists, policymakers, scholars and donors gathered to develop recommendations and mark progress toward FGM/C abandonment. A short video containing reflections on the Summit can be viewed here; a webcast of the entire Summit can be found here and the Summit highlights and key recommendations can be accessed here.
A pre-Summit evening reception featured a moving “Faces of Defiance” portrait series of FGM/C survivors, which was featured in The Guardian. (The project debuted in the UK and was covered in Buzzfeed.) Wallace Global Fund’s Women’s Rights Philanthropic Advisor, Susan Gibbs wrote about FGM/C in the U.S,. Her piece was published by the Council on Foundations and The Foundation Center. In conjunction with these events, Wallace Global Fund also co-chaired the Donors Working Group (DWG) on FGM/C’s Annual Meeting, along with USAID, the Human Dignity Foundation, and the U.S. Department of State, to gather donors and collaborate on best practices to mobilize resources towards eliminating the practice of FGM/C by 2030.