Key Considerations: Female Genital Mutilation Among Sudanese Displaced Populations in Egypt

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a deeply entrenched cultural practice involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is recognised as a severe violation of human rights. Worldwide, four million girls are subjected to this practice each year, with four in ten FGM survivors living in fragile and conflict-affected countries.¹ The practice of FGM is addressed in UN Sustainable Development Goal 5.3. This goal aims to eliminate all harmful practices including FGM and child, early, and forced marriage by 2030 – including among those living in crisis-affected areas and/or those forcibly displaced. Countries hosting refugees, asylum-seekers and other migrants must ensure that national strategies to address FGM are relevant and appropriate to the diverse populations that countries have a responsibility to protect. These strategies must also consider additional vulnerabilities such populations may have, related to conflict and displacement.

This SSHAP Brief focuses on the context of FGM for Sudanese populations in Egypt who currently make up the largest group of forcibly displaced people (refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants) there since the escalation of armed conflict in Sudan in April 2023. Both Egypt and Sudan have some of the highest rates of FGM in the world. This brief reviews the FGM context and anti-FGM programming developments in both countries. It considers the drivers and dynamics of FGM practices in the context of forced displacement to inform culturally sensitive strategies for FGM prevention and response for forcibly displaced Sudanese people in Egypt. It draws on academic and grey literature as well as consultations with experts working with affected populations in Egypt.