CHANGE: Key-professionals Training for medical staff in Stockholm, Sweden

On February 8th 2014, on the occasion of the international day against female genital mutilation (FGM), which is celebrated on the 6th of February, the Swedish partner organisation RISK hosted a training session for key-professionals in Stockholm. The agenda of the day included presentations from medical staff, such as doctors and midwifes, and also from the local social administrative agency “Socialstyrelsen” and two religious communities in Stockholm.

Fana Habteab from RISK started to welcome the participants of the training and presented the aims and the objectives of the organisation RISK.

Linda Ederberg from TERRE DES FEMMES, project coordinator of CHANGE, presented 'Methods and Aims of the CHANGE project' (pdf-file).

Dr. Mehari Gebre-Medhin, Professor at Uppsala University, talked about FGM and its consequences from a medical perspective. He further explained why he dedicates his personal as well as professional experiences to the CHANGE Project by being one of our Change Agents.

Kristina Lindelöw, midwife at a Swedish health centre, shared her experiences of meeting with FGM-affected women in her daily work.

Gunilla Ek, also a midwife, travelled to Ethiopia and neighbouring countries many times to help affected women during childbirth and to raise awareness about the harmful consequences of FGM. She presented pictures taken during her work abroad and gave a very vivid and impressive presentation.

Malin Ahrne, National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden, presented their activities and announced that there will be a hearing for health and medical staff on FGM.

We are very pleased that over 40 people with various professional and personal backgrounds participated in this training session.

The afternoon-session then brought together key-professionals and Change Agents, creating an opportunity to share experiences and to establish a broad network of experts with the common goal to work towards the abandonment of FGM in practicing communities in Sweden. The change agents introduced themselves and explained why they got involved in the CHANGE project.

The training sessions were followed by a theatre play organised by RISK and the Change Agents. It illustrated a real life situation about how to address the difficult topic of FGM.

Fana Habteab. Photo: © Linda Ederberg Fana Habteab (RISK). Photo: © Linda Ederberg 

Drama. Photo: © Linda EderbergDrama: Change Agents and Fana Habteab (RISK). Photo: © Linda Ederberg

Key Professional Training. Photo: © Linda EderbergKey Professional Training. Photo: © Linda Ederberg

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