Julian Assange has dramatically sought political asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, days after the supreme court rejected the last of his appeals against extradition to Sweden to face sex crime accusations and after what he called a "declaration of abandonment" by his own government in Australia.
After that, leaving a newborn anonymously in an incubator was not punished anymore, the person making this choice received legal immunity and his/her act was seen as a declaration of abandonment of the child, even though there were no papers signed.
By 2013 the programme had organized public declarations of abandonment in 12,753 communities, integrated FGM prevention into pre- and postnatal care in 5,571 health facilities, and trained over 100,000 doctors, nurses and midwives in FGM care and prevention.
For this reason, the Saleema campaign encourages community decision making and public declarations of abandonment.
Saleema materials currently include poster sets, stickers, a multimedia campaign kit comprising a song, an animated television spot, a set of 4 linked radio spots, and a set of 4 linked posters, a comic book aimed at young readers; saleema design tobes, shawls, and head scarves intended for distribution at public declarations of abandonment by community groups and networks.
"With today's public declaration of the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting, a new chapter opens for girls of Amibara District," said Tabeyin Gedlu, UNICEF Project Specialist.
It is anticipated that after the initial three year phase leading to public declaration of FGM/C abandonment, these NGOs will have sufficient capacity to continue the approach in additional communities.
Community effort By promoting the development of critical thinking and decision-making skills, the UNICEF-supported Tostan programme empowers communities to prioritize public issues and resolve problems together In this way, 14 communities that initially participated in the programme influenced six more villages to join them in making the declaration of FGM/C abandonment.
To date this joint programme is targeted at achiveing public declarations of the abandonment of FGM/C in 39 communities in the Gabu and Bafata regions where the practice is most prevalent.
Gambia: 24 communities to say 'No' to female genital cutting/mutilation BANJUL, The Gambia, 9 June 2009 - 24 communities in the Upper River Region in northern Gambia will be hosting the first in a series of community-led Declarations for the abandonment of female genital cutting/mutilation.
AFAR, Ethiopia, 20 January 2011 – An official declaration marking the abandonment of female genital cutting was issued recently in the Amibara and the Awash-Fentale districts of Ethiopia's Afar Region.
