International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM: Partnering with Men & Boys to Transform Social and Gender Norms to End FGM

Christopher Stephens is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group. He oversees the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency (LEG) consisting of approximately 200 professionals located around the world. He is responsible for overall coordination and support on legal aspects of the Operational Activities of the World Bank, including lending, advisory services, country engagement, operational policies, development finance, trust funds and partnerships, and sanctions and anti-corruption. He is also responsible for legal aspects of the corporate finance functions related to financial risk, financial reporting, treasury functions, capital markets issuances, and asset management, and provides legal advice on human resources, procurement, information technology, ethics and external affairs. Mr. Stephens is the principal advisor to the Board of Governors, the Executive Directors, the World Bank Group President, and other members of the Senior Management Team on matters of law and policy.

As Global Director for Gender, Hana Brixi leads a global effort to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. She sets the overall direction for the World Bank Group’s Gender knowledge agenda, drives Bank-wide efforts for results in closing gender gaps, and fosters partnerships with public and private sector stakeholders toward innovations at scale. In her career, she has contributed to advances in human development, public finance, and governance. As Manager of the Human Capital Project, she led a global effort to protect and invest in people with an emphasis on girls and women empowerment. Hana has published articles in professional journals and written several books on economic development, including Trust, Voice and Incentives on service delivery and Government at Risk on fiscal management. 

Isabella Micali Drossos is a French and Brazilian lawyer. She joined the Bank in 1999 and has worked since then as an operational lawyer in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Region. She has a passion for issues related to gender-based violence (in particular Female Genital Mutilation and Domestic Violence) and collective happiness and well-being in development. She holds degrees in law and in economics from the University of Paris, an LLM from the London School of Economics and a PhD in international public law from the University Pantheon-Sorbonne.

Edith Ruguru Mwenda is a Senior Counsel at the World Bank, she joined the World Bank in 2001 and has worked as an operational lawyer in Africa and in the Caribbean. She has been for many years the Gender Advisor for the Legal Department and the Gender Group at the World Bank and has a passion for Gender Based Violence related issues, including GBV and development, codes of conduct to prevent GBV as well as the operationalization of GBV issues in World Bank operations. Edith holds a LMB from the university of Nairobi, a LMM in Banking and finance from the University of London (Queen Mary College) and a LMM in International Environmental Law from the George Washington University. She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

Jeremiah Kipainoi is an activist, he hosts the End FGM Podcast and End FGM Live, he is a columnists on Men and Boys issues for the Nation newspaper in Kenya as well as the Director of Communications for the Global Media Campaign to end FGM. As a multimedia journalist by profession, Jeremiah uses innovative communications tools to bring together activists and journalists on the frontline ending FGM to plan, take action and review interventions to prevent and stop FGM from happening within their communities.

Vincent is an ardent social community development professional and end Female Genital Mutilation 2021 Kenya presidential award winner focused on campaigns for full eradication of Female Genital Mutilation and Gender Based Violence; and democracy & youth good governance champion in Kenya, Africa. He is the coordinator of Tunaweza Empowerment Organization – a non-profit women rights, girls-centered and youth development advocacy community-based organization that exist to catalyze the power of the most vulnerable girls, young women and youth to create the future they imagine –for themselves, for their society and for the world. 

Tony Mwebia is a Gender Activist & Consultant and the Founder & Executive Director of Men End FGM Foundation, an award-winning SDG 5 Advocate, mainly focusing on ending Female Genital Mutilation through grassroots campaigns and writing, as well as advocating for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Tony has over 10 years of experience working with NGOs and Government agencies in Kenya. His work is informed by a long history of advocacy for women through conducting community dialogues and sensitizations aimed at changing people’s attitudes and perceptions toward harmful cultural practices. 

Shucayb Obsiiye is a Somali professional journalist based in Jigjiga who has worked with some of the main media houses in the region for the past years. He currently works for Horn cable TV and is also the Country Director for the Global Media Campaign to End FGM in Ethiopia. For the last four years, Shucayb has been leading the anti-FGM campaigns which have reached millions people within the Somali region. He mobilized journalists and media activists, artists, singers, doctors association, anti-FGM campaigners, social activists, youth associations, women associations, traditional elders and religious leaders from the region to use the media to change harmful social norms and end FGM. 

Mam Lisa Camara, a Gambian women and children’s rights activist/ Founding member of the African Women Rights Advocates (AWRA). With over 20 years of experience working with youth and women, starting at a tender age with The Gambia Red Cross society, Lisa has mastered the art of both community- led and national and international advocacy and development work. Her work has contributed to transforming so many lives in the communities she serves which led her to her current national duty role, serving as the female Representative and vice-chairperson of the The Gambia National Youth Council.

Matthieu Bonvoisin is a Senior Counsel in the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency (LEG) where he advises internal and external clients on the legal aspects of World Bank operations. His experience spans on a number of countries in the Western and Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, MENA, and Latin America and the Caribbean Regions, with a focus on countries in a context of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence. He is also LEG’s representative at the World Bank’s Disability Working Group where he assists on the review of WBG procedures and practices from a disability inclusion perspective in order to make recommendations for programs to enhance inclusion of persons with disabilities and raise awareness among staff. Matthieu is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School where he obtained his masters in law.

Christina Pitouli is a freelance documentary filmmaker, production manager and sound recordist. She has directed a number of documentary shorts, all focusing primarily on gender and social issues. Her awarded documentary short “Bref” (2013), about female genital mutilation,was officially selected in over 35 international film festivals. Christina was invited to talk about the impact ofher film at a TEDx event in 2016. The film was awarded “Best Documentary on Women’s Rights” at the Malaga Film Festival and “Best Social Documentary” at the Aegean Docs Film Festival. In 2015, she worked with the Colombian director, Jorge Caballero, on the Interactive Web Documentary, Impaciente, part of the award-winning transmedia documentary project, Paciente. She also conducts workshops on documentary filmmaking and sound.

Heidi Basch-Harod is the Executive Director of Women's Voices Now, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that uses film to drive social change that advances girls' and women's rights globally. She is a published author and Daytime Emmy Award winning documentary producer.

Lou M. C. Granier is a French International Consultant in Development specialized in Gender. She holds a master's degree in Development Management from the London School of Economics, and a joint degree from Queen Mary University of London in Economics and Politics. She then specialized in Gender programming and GBV at the George Washington University. She is specifically dedicated to work toward the eradication of FGM/C and has been working with the World Bank, NGOs, and the National Committee to Combat Harmful Practices in Guinea Bissau while developing operational work in Mali and in Guinea. She is also a member of the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development’s FGM/C Legal Working Group. #EndFGM #SDG5.3