UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has backed Bristol girl Fahma Mohamed's campaign to put education at the heart of tackling female genital mutilation (FGM).
The Guardian reported that Ban praised the 17-year-old's campaign – which has now attracted more than 212,000 signatures on change.org - calling it "deeply inspiring", and applauded her call to enlist headteachers to help reach every girl who is at risk of FGM.
Fahma is one of nine daughters in a Muslim Somali family who came to Britain when she was seven.
She has seen at firsthand among her friends and family the devastation that FGM can cause and, along with her classmates, has been campaigning for her school to do more.
Along with Fahma, a broad coalition of charities and campaigners have joined the Guardian newspaper to ask Education Secretary Michael Gove to write to head teachers of all primary and secondary schools, urging them to flag up the dangers of FGM before the summer holidays, when girls are at the greatest risk.
The Guardian reports that the Scottish government has already said it will write to heads throughout Scotland, and following sustained public pressure Michael Gove agreed to meet with Mohamed to discuss the issue.
Ban wrote in a comment piece for the Guardian: "It has been deeply inspiring for me to hear that a 17-year-old, Fahma Mohamed, supported by the Guardian, has attracted well over 200,000 signatures to her petition demanding action to end female genital mutilation.
"Headteachers – and governments – have a vital role to play in helping to convince families not to send their daughters abroad and help those girls, some 24,000 in the UK alone – thought to be at risk. The decision of the Scottish government to write to every headteacher asking them to train staff and educate parents is a major step forward."
Fahma, who is a trustee of the charity Integrate Bristol, said she was honoured to receive Ban's support.
"It's great that our campaign has had such a wide reaching impact and I'm truly honoured by Ban Ki-moon's support and praise," she said.
"If he can help us persuade Michael Gove and the Department for Education that they need to act, and now, then all of us in my Integrate Bristol group would be delighted.”
Fahma was chosen to head the campaign because of her work with Integrate Bristol, an educational charity in the Lawrence Hill area which empowers young people to learn about and take positive action against gender-based violence.
The charity made a film in 2011 called Silent Scream and organised an international conference in Bristol on FGM.
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