Ghanaian-led team wins UN award to fight FGM

A 30-year-old Ghanaian social advocate has received a UN award on steps to fight Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Social Venture for Sustainable Development (SVSD).

Vida Offei Addo and four other African nationals, who formed the FemPower West Africa team, were awarded out of 120 participants of 20 teams. The four other members of the FemPower team are Francess Munu of Sierra Leone, Tabitha Abimiku and Enoabasi Nta of Nigeria and Sekou Sangare of Mali.

The award package includes project seed funding, lifetime mentorship and special networking. The group is poised to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation, a social menace which is still prevalent in the respective countries of the winners.

“Female Genital Mutilation is a bizarre situation,” Vida Offei Addo said.

“It is a violation of human rights, and we believe that no female should go through this practice and that is our goal. “I will say we are motivated by our love for the community and Africa. And we will do all we can to see a total eradication of the canker,” she intimated.

Vida Ofei Addo also had the privilege to participate in various seminars at the World Bank headquarters, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both in Washington DC, as well as Microsoft Youth Spark Workshop.

Guided by the overarching principle of the 2030 UN agenda for sustainable development, the Social Venture for Sustainable Development seminar seeks to stimulate and ensure youth engagement and participation in achieving an inclusive and sustainable future.

The seminar is also designed to introduce participants to the concepts, principles and practices of social innovation in and for profit and not-for-profit sectors. Vida Offei Addo is expected in Ghana in a few weeks to launch her project.