Praise for fatwa
Religious affairs minister Sheikh Khalil Abdullahi Ahmed hailed the fatwa, which effectively criminalizes FGM. He said the practice led Somali women and girls to suffer "during marriage, during childbirth and at young age" as it interferes with urination and menstruation.
Ahmed said society has "ignored” the problem for a long time.
"It was a problem that was ignored – whether they are religious scholars as well as the society. Its victim was a young child who did not have the power to protect itself. Today we stood up for our girls. This cruel act of circumcision is crime from today.”
Somaliland's minister of social affairs and labor, Hinda Jama, welcomed the fatwa.
"Today we reached the pinnacle. We thank the religious scholars. I say, let us implement it and let us legislate a bill," she said. "We will be watchful for anyone who performs cutting of a young girl. We will set up neighborhood watches to implement it.”
Prominent women's rights activist Maryan Qasim, a former Somali minister of health, education and social services, also hailed the fatwa.
"A good step forward towards eradicating this harmful cultural practice that has harmed generations of Somali women," she said in a Twitter post. "Time for FGM to end."
Action plan and legislation anticipated
Ifrah Ahmed – founder of the Mogadishu-based Ifrah Foundation, which combats FGM – predicted that Somalia's government would publish a national action plan this spring to fight the practice.
A bill forbidding FGM is very close to completion and will come before the Somali parliament soon, and this will help towards stopping this practice,” she told VOA Somali.
Ahmed said the Ifrah Foundation held a national conference in December and has conducted awareness training to over 6,000 youth members.
"I hope [in] the next 10 years Somalia will eradicate FGM; not to reduce it, but stop the practice as a whole,” she said.
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Somaliland Fatwa Forbids FGM
Authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have issued a religious fatwa banning the practice of female genital mutilation and vowed to punish violators. The fatwa by the Ministry of Religious Affairs allows FGM victims to receive compen