Akwuke just like most communities in Enugu State, Nigeria is highly patriarchal. In Akwuke, women and girls right from birth are simply not wanted. This is because they are perceived to be a weaker sex. This patriarchal attitude and mindset has led to an increase in the rate of various harmful practices like female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in the community. In Akwuke, the girl child is usually mutilated on the 8th day. This is done to coincide with her naming ceremony. After the girl child is mutilated, she is then betrothed to a man usually thrice her age. This is because; FGM serves as a precursor to the girl child early marriage at Akwuke.
In solving the foregoing challenge, Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP) an organization which I currently work with mobilized various youth in the community. One approach, which we used for this mobilization was soccer. We targeted youth in this regard because we strongly believe that if we are to end FGM at Akwuke in this generation that it will be the youth that will end it. We also used soccer because it is one activity, which draws many youth out. This activity was indeed a huge success as many youth re-affirmed their commitment to ending FGM at Akwuke community in this generation.
This photo depicts one of the PYD features and that is youth engagement and contribution. Also, the sector that is most relevant to this picture is youth.
Website: https://www.sirpnigeria.org
Twitter: @SIRPNig