New $15.5 million fund aims to accelerate global end of female genital mutilation

Frontline activists celebrated the launch of the Her Horizon Fund, a $15.5 million pool financed by $14 million from the Wallace Global Fund and $1.5 million from an unnamed benefactor. The initiative aims to create a tipping point for ending female genital mutilation (FGM) within a generation, countering a sharp decline in donor money that has left UNFPA and UNICEF programmes under-funded. Survivors like Ifrah Ahmed, who runs the Ifrah Foundation in Somalia, said the capital will keep community-based campaigns alive despite recent cuts to UN funding.

Susan Gibbs, senior adviser on women’s rights at the Wallace Global Fund, described the fund as a catalytic boost for organizations starving for resources. She noted that while some countries have criminalised FGM, legal challenges and political resistance persist, making the new financing critical for preserving recent gains.