UNFPA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population, the National Committee for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, organized a series of workshops under the slogan “White Coat Against FGM,” strengthening efforts to eliminate the harmful practice.

The workshops were held in Tanta, Assuit and Ismailia in June, July and August respectively, targeting medical students, raising their awareness of the harms of FGM and the role of medical professionals in changing the social and cultural norms associated with this harmful practice.

Held in cooperation with the Tanta Faculty of Medicine, the workshops brought together over 250 medical students in Tanta. In Assiut, in cooperation with the Assiut Faculty of Medicine, the workshops saw the participation of 800 medical students and finally in cooperation with the Suez Canal Faculty of Medicine, the workshops saw the attendance of 400 medical students in Ismailia.

The workshops featured sessions addressing the complications of FGM, alongside its medical, ethical, legal, religious dimensions, and its psychological impact.

This comes under the “White Coat Against FGM” conference series, a national multi-sectoral initiative led by UNFPA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the National Committee for the Elimination of FGM, and the Medical Syndicate.

The first conference was held in December 2024, bringing together 750 doctors in a series of five conferences in Cairo.

The medicalization of FGM remains a significant challenge in Egypt. According to the Egyptian Family Health Survey (EFHS) 2021, 86 percent of Egyptian married women between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone FGM, 74 percent of whom by doctors.