Let´s CHANGE partners at TERRES DES FEMMES. Photo: © TERRE DES FEMMESThe Kick-Off meeting of the new Let´s CHANGE project took place at the TERRE DES FEMMES head office in Berlin on the 23^rd and 24^th October 2018. Similar to the previous project, TERRE DES FEMMES as coordinator of Let’s CHANGE and the project partners Plan International in Hamburg, FSAN in Amsterdam and Equipop in Paris as well as the evaluation consultancy Open Europe Consulting in Munich came together to start their cooperation within the project.

The UN Human Rights Council has recently decided on a resolution to fight female genital mutilation. The paper contains several ideas and thoughts from the EU-projects CHANGE Plus and United to END FGM in which TERRE DES FEMMES and other European partners have participated. The fact that all member states of the council have commonly decided on a resolution on this issue, illustrates the acknowledgment of the work civil society actors like those in the END FGM network do and motivates for further projects in the future.

Recent data show that the number of unreported cases of FGM in Germany is increasing again, with a growing number of girls that are at risk of being mutilated. The figures illustrate a great challenge on how to manage this subject, but simultaneously, they also motivate for more work on prevention and sensitization.

Last week’s Thursday, 26^th July 2018, has been an exciting opportunity for TERRE DES FEMMES to deepen the collaboration with feminist organisations from our neighbouring country Austria. Charlotte Weil welcomed to medical practitioners from a Vienna-based counselling centre in the head office in Berlin. The two women were part of a counselling team that is particularly specialized in women’s and girl’s health, called FEM Süd, and attended the meeting in representation of the entire team: One of them is a health psychologist and head of the centre, Hilde Wolf, the other is a health counsellor and trained physician, Umyma El-Jelede.