Call for Stories: Breaking Centuries of Silence!

“If a single story has the power to change our minds, our collective stories have the power to change history”.

Imagine the stories of young people across Africa “Breaking the Silence” on FGM. Imagine your story inspiring someone across the continent to speak out against Female Genital Mutilation. Imagine your story staring up hope for the survivors and victims of Female Genital Mutilation. Imagine millions of young people across the continent who can read your story and are encouraged to take action and demand an end to female genital mutilation. 

Now the opportunity is here, and your dreams are about to come true….

YouthHubAfrica, with support from the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, has launched a monthly Storytelling Competition titled “Courage: Breaking the Silence on Female Genital Mutilation!”

This is an opportunity for young people to use the art of Storytelling to disrupt the culture of silence on FGM. 

Benefits 

  • Each month, the three best feature stories will EACH stand a chance to win cash prizes worth 100 USD.

This is not all, 

  • Each month, participants’ stories will be featured on the www.youthendfgm.org website for an Africa-wide audience to read.

Steps to participate:

  1. Click on the link on the flier to access the form, fill and submit
  2. Create an account on https://youthendfgm.org/sign-up/
  3. Submit your story focusing on FGM:  “Silencing the voices in my head.” on the blog post
  4. All stories must be submitted by Wednesday, 30th April 2022.
  5. The Call is open to young Africans aged 18 – 35 years
  6. Acceptable Categories:            Text 
  7. Maximum number of words:    400
  8. Stories should be fictional, creative, original and depict the reality of FGM

NOTE: All stories must be original works of fiction as they will be subjected to a plagiarism test.

Judging:

The competition will be judged in three stages: 

Stage One: Participants will submit their stories on the blogs page on the YouthendFGM website. The stories will go through an initial review and only stories that comply with our guidance will be published on the website.

Stage Two: Once the stories have been approved and published online, participants can begin to share with their network to gain likes and comments to proceed to the next stage. A minimum of 100 likes and 50 comments qualifies one to move to the final stage.

Stage Three:  A panel of Judges will review the stories. They will consider Language, Presentation, Creativity and Relevance to the context.

  • Language (grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation)
  • Elements (character, setting, plot, conflict and theme)
  • Creativity (make the story become alive)
  • Relevance to the issue/content

This competition is an activity on the Strengthening Youth Advocacies to End Female Genital Mutilation in Africa project and it targets young advocates, survivors, development workers and activists on the continent to use fiction as a tool to share their stories and experiences around FGM in Africa.

NOTE: After successful form submission, sign in to your account and submit your story on the blog page.

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