Mitsuyo Kakuta at the ceremony in Daga

25 October 2009: The famous Japanese author, Mitsuyo Kakuta, visited a Plan programme in Mali to discover the fight against the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in October 2009.

Plan’s 5-year programme to stop the practice of FGC in Mali began in 2004 and now covers 140 villages. As a result of the intense awareness raising activities in the communities covered by the programme, 27 villages have abandoned FGC.

Female genital cutting is an ancient traditional practice in Mali which affects over 90% of women. It is a violation of rights and a painful practice that has a hugely negative impact on their health: it can cause haemorrhages, which often lead to death. The practice can also have other devastating psychological and physical impacts, such as complications during child-birth. 

Making progress

But in the villages of Neni, Ibi, Koundou and Daga in the Dogon region, the author met with women’s associations and girls on the subject and she noted the positive attitudes of communities towards abandoning the practice.

In the first village, she found that more and more people were keen to stop practicing FGC, but in the two villages she visited afterwards, it had been completely abandoned.

The people of Daga took the opportunity to organize a ceremony confirming that they abandoned the practice 1 year ago.

An opportunity

"This visit to Plan Mali’s programme is a very good opportunity for me to contribute to the development world,” said Ms Kakuta.

Ms Kakuta couldn’t hide just how impressed she was with the initiative: She said the programme against the practice FGC must be continued since it helps protect the health of girls and women. She also promised to  appeal for support against FGC in Mali once back in Japan .

Ms Kakuta is one of the most popular authors in Japan. She won the prestigious Japanese literature Naoki Award for popular fiction and the main subjects of her works are women and girls. Most of her fans are women in their teens to those in  their 40's. 

Find out more about Plan's work in Mali