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Eight girls from Egypt's south rescued from FGM

The National Committee for Eradication of Female Gentile Mutilation (NCEFGM), co-chaired by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and the National Council for Women (NCW), has announced it has aborted an attempt to circumcise seven girls aged 10 to 12 in Assiut, some 350km south of Cairo, and another of a 9-year-old girl in Sohag, some 420km south of Cairo. This was in cooperation with the Public Prosecution. According to Sahar al-Sonbaty, Secretary-General of NCCM, the committee received a report stating that the families of the girls, who are cousins residing in the Abnub Centre in Assiut Governorate, intended to circumcise the girls. Another report was received from Sohag Governorate that the family of a 9-year-old girl also intended to circumcise her. Ms Sonbaty said that NCCM immediately got in touch with the public prosecutor in Assiut, and filed a complaint to take needed procedures. The prosecution started immediate investigations and summoned the girls' families. Numerous cases of intended or attempted FGM are frequently reported on the Child Helpline 16000, a hotline set up by the NCCM in 2005. The NCCM's Secretary-General thanked Assiut's General Committee for Child Protection and the Prosecution-General of Assiut for their prompt action to protect the girls. Raising awareness The NCEFGM was founded to spearhead awareness and advertising campaigns to enlighten Egyptians on the hazards and harms of FGM and how it had nothing to do with promoting chastity. Ever since its foundation it has been working closely with the State which itself is committed towards eliminating FGM in Egypt. The work of NCEFGM is closely supervised by both NCCM and NCW which together draw a plan of action for the work of the committee that includes among its members scores of seasoned experts and officials involved in reducing the incidence of FGM in Egypt. Among them are representatives of the ministries of Interior, Social Solidarity, Health and Housing, Education, Youth and Sports, Culture, Endowments, Justice, and Investment and International Cooperation. Al-Azhar and the Egyptian Churches are also represented in the committee, as are the National Council for Population, the Public Prosecution, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, and the National Information Authority. Civil society organisations and the General Union of NGOs are also represented in the committee. Watani International 1 July 2025 Comments comments Tags: Egypt NCCMEgypt NCEFGMEgypt NCWFGM EgyptMadeleine NaderSamia Ayad