Saleema Toolkit "English"

The Saleema Communication Initiative
Saleema communication is all about girls and the women they will become. Since the Saleema Initiative started large-scale activities in 2009, the ideal of keeping girls saleema has spread throughout Sudan, and also created interest in neighbouring countries such as Somalia and Egypt. The Saleema model of positive communication is Sudan’s gift to building the best future for girls and women everywhere.
The values at the heart of the Saleema Initiative are:
•
Making the best of the health God gave us, in both body and mind.
•
Upbringing according to the best values of our culture.
•
Belief that God created girls and women in the best and safest way to fulfil their future marriage
and child-bearing roles.
The National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW) started the Saleema Initiative to help partner organisations communicate effectively with families and communities about the importance of keeping their daughters saleema in every way.
The Saleema Initiative works through three main types of activities:
•
Conducting multi-media public awareness campaigns that create widespread recognition of the words, symbols and ideas used to promote the Saleema values.
•
Reaching families with Saleema communication through relevant institutions that serve the public, for example, maternity hospitals.
•
Providing organisations working at community level with communication strategies and tools for face-to-face communication based on best practice methods.
The ideal of Saleema includes many different aspects of a girl’s physical and social development. The resources contained in this toolkit have a special focus on a fundamental part of a Saleema upbringing: leaving them as God made them, without the harmful changes made by genital cutting. The toolkit is designed to make communicating with families and communities about keeping girls saleema easier, more organised, and more effective.
Who is the Saleema Communication Toolkit for?
This toolkit is for people who are working with communities to protect girls from all types of genital cutting and would like to use some of the communication approaches, materials and activities developed through the Saleema Initiative. Many of NCCW’s partners in Saleema already have considerable experience of this work, in some cases stretching back through decades. In keeping with the overall Saleema approach, the purpose of the toolkit is to build on the strengths of existing communication programmes, not to replace them entirely.
Any group or organisation can use the Saleema tools as part of a programme of communication about female genital cutting. Whether your group is just starting outreach activities or already has considerable community experience, it is useful to think about how the Saleema communication activities you carry out fit into the wider picture of communication about female genital cutting that has been happening in different ways throughout our society for many years. To this end, Part One of this handbook provides background information on important characteristics of communication about female genital cutting in Sudan, specific factors that shaped the Saleema framework, and key features of Saleema communication.
THE SALEEMA COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE
2

THE SALEEMA COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE 3
What’s in the toolkit?
Communication tools help to make communicating easier, more organised and more
effective. Sometimes when we talk about communication tools we mean material objects,
like posters, printed discussion guidelines, activity guides, a recorded announcement, or a
billboard. But concepts and ideas can also be used strategically as tools for communication.
For example, the term "saleema" itself is a tool for changing the parameters of discussions
about female genital cutting.
PART ONE: The Saleema Communication Framework
1.1 Introduction
2.2 Background
3.3 Development of the Saleema Communication Initiative
4.4 Core visual tools
5.5 Benefits of keeping girls saleema
6.6 Saleema communication values
7.7 Saleema messages and message style
8.8 Saleema strategies
PART TWO: Tools for face-to-face communication
Introduction
9.9 Activity guide 1: Saleema Pledge Commitments (including the Taga)
1001Activity guide 2: How to plan and conduct structured dialogue sessions for Saleema
1111Activity guide 3: Introducing Saleema
1212Activity guide 4: Discovering others' views
1313Activity guide 5: Shared marriage values
PART THREE: Additional resources
1414 Sufara’a Saleema
1515Working with religious leaders
1616 Saleema style book: Elements of visual identity

4 THE SALEEMA COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE
PART ONE
PART ONE

PART ONE

PART ONE
“The custom of cutting girls has been with us for a long time in Sudan. All of us alive today grew
up with it. No one can say they have not been affected by it. Most of us have experienced it in
our own families. Even those whose families kept their daughters saleema can be said to have
grown up with cutting through their experience of being different from the majority. The custom
goes back before the time of our grandparents and although people tell different stories about
it, no one really knows how it started. But everyone knows that our ancestors did not always cut
their daughters. There was a time when the mothers and daughters of Sudan were left saleema
throughout their lives.
The custom of cutting had a beginning, and it has an ending too. We began to see the change
some time ago. It comes from improvements in education, especially female education; it comes
from the commitment of community organisations that have been persistent in raising the issue
for discussion; it comes from the accumulated weight of our collective experience. Now more and
more families are joining together in their ideas about what is good for their daughters and for the
whole society. The time of Saleema is coming again.”
- Nafisa Ahmed Elamin, eminent women’s movement leader

PART ONE
1. Introduction
The Saleema commitment
Saleema is about making commitments. Small commitments and big commitments that add up to a better
society. The commitment of families and whole communities to keeping their daughters saleema has many
parts to it. At its heart is a promise to protect and cherish girls as God made them: healthy, whole, unharmed,
complete. Therefore the Saleema commitment begins with a pledge to protect girls from physical harm, starting
with the life-long harm caused by female genital cutting. This is the foundation of a Saleema upbringing, but
Saleema is not just about physical well-being. Girls’ psychological, mental, and social development should also
be nurtured and protected so that they can grow up to be women who fulfil all the best potential God has given
them, throughout their lives. These different aspects of ‘being saleema’ grow together like two vines and can
never be entirely separated. While the Saleema Communication Initiative makes special reference to protecting
girls from genital cutting, in broader terms Saleema is as much concerned with healthy minds as with healthy
bodies.

2. Background
Communication about female genital cutting in Sudan
Communication about female genital cutting is nothing new in Sudan. Within families and communities it is as old as the practice itself. At the national level, public discourse on female genital cutting goes back at least as far as the 1940s and has accelerated greatly in the past 35 years.
While the Saleema Initiative is national in reach the focus is always firmly on communication with and within families and communities. Understanding the spoken discourse on female genital cutting in a particular community -- what kind of conversations are already taking place among the people, who participates in, opts out of, or is excluded from those conversations, and what are the main points of reference -- is essential groundwork for effective engagement. Thus Saleema communication starts not with a call to speak out but with a call to first ask and to listen.
Who talks to who about female genital cutting within families and communities? What do they say and how do they say it? Whose voices are privileged and whose are muted or disregarded? Who is silent and why? What ideas or beliefs do people commonly refer to in their talk? What are the areas of disagreement? What is never talked about? What fears are expressed and what wishes? What are people thinking but not saying? What do people think other people are thinking but not saying? What are the common words people use when talking about female genital cutting? These are important questions not only for programme planners but for community members themselves to raise and reflect on.
An unwritten rule
In most of our communities the cutting of girls has been an unwritten rule for longer than anyone can remember. However it first came about, cutting came to be seen as normal and expected for girls and women. Various reasons are given for it, most of them linked to marriage: cleanliness that is seen as both physical hygiene and moral purity, maintenance of health, religious observance, sexual attractiveness, enhancement of men’s sexual pleasure, curtailment of women’s sexual desire (chastity and sexual fidelity). In a community where cutting is normal, families tend to expect that other families are cutting their daughters, and they feel that they are also expected to cut their own daughters. Historically, girls and women known or believed to be uncut were stigmatized with the insult of ghalfa, gossiped about, and rumoured to be unacceptable as wives; other parents expected that the same would happen to their own daughters if they did not cut them. A related concern that is less frequently mentioned is a fear that unmarried daughters, if not cut, might be so overpowered by natural sexual feelings that they might bring shame on the family through illicit sexual activity.
In the academic discipline of sociology this type of unwritten rule about a social behaviour is known as a social norm. Like other societal rules norms change over time. During the time they are most widely in force, however, people often feel that the norm has always been part of the culture and that it will always be there in future.
Social norms include rules that are openly broadcast and freely discussed, such as the custom of new mothers staying in the home for 40 days after delivering, as well as rules that are rarely discussed openly but that people learn about by watching how others behave, by ‘listening in', by observing non-verbal communication and by piecing together indirect clues. So norms for a specific type of social behaviour also have norms for how that behaviour should be communicated about. This is important information for anyone designing a programme of communication that aims to engage people in reflecting on and re-evaluating an important social norm.
Communicating effectively on a sensitive issue requires good groundwork and careful attention to the community’s established communication norms. The way people talk about an issue often changes and evolves as they reflect on their experiences and respond to new ideas. It is important to understand existing communication norms and dynamics and to engage with people in ways that they are comfortable with. Otherwise you may be seen as deek al’idda (a“cock among the utensils”), charging in and trampling over things with a great clatter, oblivious to the havoc you wreak .
Norms for a specific type of social behaviour also have norms for how that behaviour should be communicated about.
PART ONE
8

PART ONE
A Disjointed Conversation
Female genital cutting fits the pattern of a norm that is generally not communicated about publicly. Within our
families and communities communication about the practice has tended to be fragmented and shrouded by a
sense of secrecy and embarrassment. It is common that most of the talk about female genital cutting happens
between women. Women talk about the practice with other women for a variety of purposes but often rely
mainly on indirect references and tacit understandings. Although successful married life is the main rationale
for female genital cutting, many husbands and wives have never discussed the issue directly. Women often
say it is required by men as husbands, while men often say it is ‘women’s business’ and that women are the
ones insisting on it. Mothers and grandmothers preparing girls to be cut do not provide the girls with realistic
descriptions of what is about to happen but rather speak in euphemisms focussed on promised benefits. Girls at
the age of first cutting are a muted group in communication on the practice; this is unlikely to change given that
the age of cutting in most of our communities is very young. In many cases a wife’s only communication with
her husband about her plan to have their daughter cut may be her request for money to pay for it: she is grown
now, I need money for the midwife, the henna and the feast.
The sense that female genital cutting is not a fit subject for open discussion can make it hard for people to get a
clear understanding of the full impact cutting has on their lives. Creating conditions for new kinds of discussions
through which new understandings may emerge is a key strategy for Saleema communication.
A parallel discourse
Growth of public communication on female genital cutting
Compared with the muted and circumspect way that
families and communities tend to communicate about
female genital cutting, Sudan’s public discourse on
female genital cutting, as it has developed over the
past 35 years, is highly outspoken. ‘Breaking the public
silence’ on female genital cutting has been a specific aim
and a significant achievement of national- and state-level
discourses. In the process new communication
norms have been established. Critical discussion of
female genital cutting, as the Arabic khitan, has gained
acceptance as the frequent subject of public lectures,
newspaper articles and opinion pieces, radio and
TV programming, theatrical performances, scholarly
publications, religious exegesis, public debates, and parliamentary presentations. Three important achievements
of this activist-driven discourse have been that:
• There is a greater common understanding among people of the health risks.
• Important religious experts have clarified that female genital cutting is not required by religion.
• Laws have been passed in several states that make it a crime to carry out female genital cutting.
Increasing numbers of people have publicly stated their decision to not have their daughters cut. These pioneers
have often taken the decision together with their whole extended families. For many people, however, it is not
enough just to know the health risks or that female genital cutting is not required by religion or that it might be
illegal. They weigh the risks of cutting against the risk of social rejection for their daughters and feel trapped. For
many people, the key to change lies in many other people changing too.
For many people it is not enough
just to know the health risks or that
female genital cutting is not required
by religion or that it might be illegal.
They weigh the risks of cutting
against the risk of social rejection for
their daughters and feel trapped. For
many people, the key to change lies
in many other people changing too.

Rules relevant to Saleema
Various types of rules are important in people’s thinking about keeping girls saleema in communities where cutting girls is still seen as a normal practice.
Norms
Having a sense that cutting girls is a group rule can prevent families from keeping their daughters saleema even when they would prefer to. That the perceived ‘rule of cutting’ is unwritten does not make it any less powerful. What matters is the sense of enforcement: the feeling that the girl herself and the family as a whole will suffer ridicule, embarrassment, and diminished marriage opportunities if the rule is not followed. For those who have not known other saleema girls and women, fear of people’s reactions may be compounded by uneasiness about the unknown: Will she in fact be clean? Will her behaviour be good?
Religious rules
Although keeping girls saleema is assuredly allowed by religion, some people have understood female genital cutting as a rule relevant to religion. This idea is changing due to clarification by prominent religious authorities that cutting girls is not a religious requirement. Increasing numbers of religious leaders offer this clarification to their followers, with many going further to specifically support keeping girls saleema as more consistent with religion. Several have issued fatwas against cutting girls. See pages 154 -164 for more information on the role of religious leaders in Saleema communication.
Legislation
Since 2008 five states, South Kordofan, Gedaref, Red Sea, South Darfur and West Darfur, have passed laws banning the practice of cutting girls. Several other states are currently developing similar laws. These include North Kordofan, Northern state, North Darfur and Blue Nile. The development of written laws by state legislatures is a clear and positive sign of how opinion among law-makers has shifted against continuation of female genital cutting; however, the gap between state legislation and community practice is very wide. Enforcement of the new laws is not feasible when cutting, which generally occurs in the privacy of homes and not in public spaces, is still widely viewed as normal and required. To date there is no federal law that prohibits the cutting of girls’ genitals.
Since the Saleema Initiative identifies community dialogue and discussion as the starting point for change, these new laws are best viewed as an important parallel development. Having such laws in place is not likely in itself to change the cutting norm. When the norm does shift at community level, however, these laws will become important tools for accelerating change. At the point when pressure for further legal changes and enforcement comes overwhelmingly from communities then legal developments will become part of the Saleema Communication Framework.
PART ONE
10

PART ONE
3. Development of the Saleema Initiative
Against this general background, many partner organisations shared their ideas, research findings, and
experiences from the field to help NCCW develop the Saleema Communication Initiative. A number of
observations greatly influenced the way Saleema communication strategies and tools were developed. These
fall roughly into two groups: signs of positive change, and challenges to change. Understanding these formative
influences helps to clarify the aims and methods of Saleema communication.
Signs of positive change
Most people in Sudan are aware of female genital cutting as a contested practice or an unsettled
social question
“Are other people thinking about
it the way I’m thinking about it?”
“I don’t know who to listen
to. It’s confusing.”
“Is it good or is it bad?”
"Which way is this
issue going?"
“Why are some people in a hurry to
change? We must understand this
issue better.”
“Why are some people dragging their
feet? They are holding back the whole
society.”

PART ONE
The majority of people share an understanding that the custom of female genital cutting causes
health problems for women.
"Aspirin, baby powder and medicine for
my wife’s women troubles, again..."
"I am ashamed of going back
to the doctor with these
repeated abcesses.".
"No, I am sorry, she can’t join
us. She is at the clinic again…
yes, same old problem…"
"It is fistula, she will have to
have an operation."
"Is this an infection again?"
"Why do we do this to
ourselves?"
People are increasingly aware that female genital cutting is one of the causes of infertility;
awareness is already high that cutting makes childbirth more difficult and dangerous for both
mothers and babies.
"Up to now she has no children,
the doctors says there is a
problem."
"After going through this I will
never cut my daughters."
“My wife lost so much blood,
she nearly died.”
"We have lost our daughter,
and our grandson too."
"It is her third
caesarean"
"This custom
is killing us."
"The baby
didn’t survive."
"We are
thinking of
trying IVF."
“My niece is still in labour,
since last night.”

PART ONE
Many parents experience the decision of whether or not to cut a daughter as a dilemma.
"What if we cut her and
then by the time she grows
up it is no longer required?"
"How can we even be sure if
it is required now?"
"Let us spare her all these
problems, we will keep her
the way she is."
"But if we don’t do it, will
it cause her problems in
future?"
Many people express that they feel trapped by social expectations about cutting girls; they wish
there was no pressure to cut their daughters and openly express "I’d leave her the way she is if the
others would also leave their daughters as they were created”.
"If only we didn’t have to do this."
“I’d leave this habit if the
others would also leave it.”
“I wish they’d keep their
daughters the way they are
so we could too.”
“I wouldn’t do it to my
daughters if it wasn’t for my
mother.”
“I’d change if she’d change.”
“Do you think they’d change
if we changed first?”

PART ONE
People frequently express uncertainty about the real intentions and actions of others with respect
to cutting their daughters.
“I
heard that
they didn’t actually
cut their daughters,
they only called the
midwife to pretend so
that the grandmother
would be satisfied.”
“You
mean
they don’t
want others to
“She know?”
said that
he said that she
said they would not
cut their girls but I
heard it was already
done.”
In several areas of Sudan, whole communities have joined together in a decision that they will no
longer cut girls.
We are strong in our decision
because we decided together.

15
PART ONE
Supporting the trend of positive change
Three key Saleema Initiative strategies support and accelerate positive signs of change:
From individual to group decision
Many of the signs of change noted above highlight the interdependency of people’s decision-making. From the outset, the Saleema Initiative set out to find ways to encourage and support group decision-making.
Making change visible
It is important for people to know that other people are also thinking about female genital cutting in new ways and that many are taking the decision not to cut their daughters. Making change visible thus became one of the key aims of the Saleema Initiative.
Sparking new conversations
Although many people express the desire to know what other people are really thinking about the issue, the old patterns of communication about cutting girls mean people often rely on guesswork or make decisions based on inaccurate information. The Saleema Initiative thus set out to encourage new types of conversations about the practice.

Challenges to change
As well as numerous signs of positive change in the way that people are thinking about female genital cutting,
NCCW’s partners reported a number of challenges consistently encountered in their work at community level.
Key challenges
• Anxieties about possible negative consequences of leaving girls saleema (sometimes expressed as the loss of
perceived benefits of female genital cutting) persist among people who have no direct experience of leaving
girls saleema in their families and communities .
• Stigma put on uncut girls and women is pervasive and embedded in language, making it difficult to even refer
to them in a way that is not prejudicial (the insult of ghalfa).
• Debates about different types of cutting (typology) often side-track communication aimed at ending female
genital cutting.
PART ONE

PART ONE
While awareness of the problems caused by female genital cutting is generally high,
in many quarters cutting girls is also, importantly, seen as a solution to deep-seated
anxieties about the female body and about female sexual fidelity (‘benefits of female
genital cutting’); these concerns are sometimes expressed in relation to family reputation.
"I
don’t want
to destroy our
daughter’s health, but if I
don’t cut her will she grow
up to destroy our family’s
reputation? Maybe she
will not be able to
control herself."
"It is
said that when
a woman has been
cut sexual relations are
bad and painful for her,
and that is a problem in
marriage. It is my plan to
marry a woman who has
not been cut."
"But
I have also
heard it said
that if she is not cut
then she will not be
sexually satisfied
and will go
astray."
"This
custom is
causing us too many
problems, but if we do
not purify our daughters
will they be clean? I do not
want to leave them in an
unclean condition."

PART ONE
The deep-rooted stigmatization of uncut girls and women is a complex and
significant barrier to wide-scale change
The language commonly used to talk about the custom reinforces stigma against
girls and women who have not been cut. There was no generally accepted term
for people’s positive choice to protect their daughters from the harm caused by
cutting.
"Whatever part of Sudan you grew up
in, everybody has heard the stories
that are told about brides who were
rejected when their new husbands
found out that they had not been
purified."
"I didn’t want to have my daughter cut, but in
the end I did it because can’t stand the idea
that others might look at her as someone who
is unclean and lacking morals."
"My wife and I decided to
protect our girls from all
that is bad about cutting,
but it is not something we
discuss outside the family.
As they have grown older
we have become more
worried about people
finding out because of all
the gossip people make
about girls who are not cut."
"We didn’t cut her at first, but she
came home crying that she wanted
to be purified like the other girls.
Her schoolmates were calling her
horrible names."
"No, no, we didn’t purify her, it’s a
very harmful custom. We just, you
know… she is just, you know…"
"So you just left her like that?"

PART ONE
Debates about the different types of female genital cutting (typography) exist at
every level and undermine efforts to promote abandonment of the practise
In addition to issues noted in communities, a review of the ways that communication programmes were working
to meet the most significant challenges revealed a need to strengthen some of the commonly used strategies
and tools. The shortcomings that were identified in established communication tools and approaches formed
an additional set of challenges that needed to be overcome. These are discussed on the next pages in terms of
three key shifts in communication strategies and methods.
"I suffered so much giving birth,
I do not want to bring these
problems on to my daughters also."
"‘Sunna’ type does not interfere
much with childbirth, I think this is
the best type for your daughters."
"There are some types that are
sinful and others that are good in
the eyes of God."

PART ONE
SHIFT ONE:
From negative to positive
The first and most striking communication shortcoming was the prominence of overly negative messaging that
was often adversarial in nature. Whereas the custom of cutting girls is embedded in a field of positive values
including ideas about social cohesion, beauty, attraction, cleanliness and moral purity, public communication
aimed at ending female genital cutting had focussed very strongly on negative events, images, and values:
mutilation, pain, suffering, deprivation of rights, violence, death. This powerful negativity served to shock and
warn people of the harms associated with cutting girls and women, but failed to provide the majority with a
convincing positive alternative to aspire to. The clear message to families and communities was ‘do not cut
your daughters,’ but the picture of the alternative was relatively undeveloped. If they were not to be purified,
what would they be? Impure? The unspeakable insult of ghalfa? It was clear that more attention should be
focussed on the benefits, to girls themselves and to the whole society, of keeping them the way God made
them, complete and unharmed.

What’s wrong with attacking a harmful practice?
Good question!
Sometimes a powerful negative message can be just what’s needed to open people’s eyes and make them see a problem in new light. But communication tactics that focus too strongly on problems without enough emphasis on exploring acceptable solutions can result in people feeling that they are in a double-bind: a situation of disempowerment in which they have no good options and the best that they can do is to choose the ‘least bad’ option. Given such a choice it is not surprising many people feel more comfortable sticking to what is already familiar to them, even if they are now more aware of risks attached to it. In this situation many people simply tune out the negative messages rather than suffer the stress of repeatedly confronting distressing information about which they feel they can do nothing.
Disproportionate attention to some of the most dramatically negative consequences of female genital cutting also leads communicators into the trap of focussing on rare events, for example, the death of a child arising from cutting. The problem with focussing too much on such a rare event is that it does not reflect most people’s experience. After all, most of us know dozens if not hundreds of young girls who have been cut, but only a few people have personally known a girl who died from being cut. The rareness of the event leads people to look for explanations in the circumstances of the cutting rather than the fact of cutting itself. For example, in the case of a child who died because of cutting people may question the skill of the midwife / cutter, the way the family looked after the girl in the home after she was cut, the type of cut that was done. These are all things families can take control over, therefore mitigating the perceived risks without actually needing to discontinue the custom of cutting girls' genitals.
Finally, an attack or critique based on a perspective that does not reflect insiders’ understanding of the issue is unlikely to engage people’s hearts. At best it will feel irrelevant; at worst it can make people feel misrepresented, under attack, and defensive. As an example, consider the depiction of midwives. Most families tend to regard the midwife as a helper, an expert in the care of female bodies, a skilled attendant at the arrival of new life, someone the women in the family turn to for a wide range of care services. In negative communication aimed at ending female genital cutting, however, the midwife has often been presented as a villain who seems to revel in the harm she inflicts on innocent girl children. The huge gap between these two perspectives becomes a credibility gap for the communication facilitators.
Negative messages should be used carefully and sparingly. Thought should always be given to all the different ways a negative message might affect communication participants, including unintended impacts that could be counter-productive. The issue of timing is important. The child’s death that is dismissed as a freak event by community members who do not feel highly involved in the issue of ending female genital cutting can become a rallying point for change in the same community once opinion has shifted.
PART ONE
21

PART ONE
SHIFT TWO:
From outside expertise to people’s personal experience
Whose expertise should take centre stage in communication on female genital cutting?
Historically, most organised communication on the issue has derived
from national discourses on female genital cutting that, although largely
disconnected from family and community level discourses, still serve as
the main model for community outreach programming. Development of
communication content has relied heavily on sources of expertise from
outside the community of people who practise the custom, for example,
bio-medical doctors, or human rights experts. This is reflected in the wide
use of lecture-based communication activities through which trained
facilitators, often dynamic activists for social change, deliver prepared
information and perspectives. While the expertise offered in this way is in
many instances welcomed by community members, if it fails to resonate
with what people know through their own experience the new learning is
likely to be compartmentalized and therefore have little impact on future
behaviour (we all know people who can describe in detail the harmful effects of cutting girls and then continue
to cut their daughters!). As with any other social norms issue, the most effective communication activities are
likely to be those that offer people opportunities to reflect in new ways on their own experience and come to
a new understanding of it in light of new information. The new insights people gain by sharing their personal
experiences and perspectives with each other often have more power to transform their understanding than
new information that comes from outside sources.
The new insights people
gain by sharing their
personal experiences and
perspectives with each
other often have more
power to transform their
understanding than new
information that comes
from outside sources.

PART ONE
SHIFT THREE:
From communication products to communication processes
Finally, it was noted that communication campaigns on female genital cutting sometimes lacked a clear vision
of how communication could bring about change. Many of our early campaigns were based on a widely
shared assumption that if people knew the harms caused by female genital cutting they would stop doing it.
The information on harm itself, how it was shaped, packaged, and presented, was often the centrepiece of the
communication programme. The first problem with this approach is that it wrongly assumes that most of our
people are not already aware of significant harms caused by the practice. Secondly, the idea that information
about the harmful effects of cutting on its own will spur change does not pay enough attention to perceptions
of benefit that persist despite the harmful consequences, or to the powerful social barriers faced by people
contemplating change. Indeed, it is abundantly clear that for many if not most people the risks of change –
whether viewed as a potential loss of benefits or as rejection by other people -- have often been perceived as
greater than the risks of continuing to cut their daughters, even when they are reluctant to do so.
Many people plainly state that they are not comfortable putting their daughters in a position that is different
from others. Partners working with communities need to work in ways that effectively and naturally link
individual change and group change. What is called for at this stage is not the production of a more convincing
argument; what is called for is the orchestration of communication processes through which people whose
decisions are ultimately interdependent come to understand the issue and each other’s views on it better, and
to share more common ground. To do this requires a longer-term framework for communication programmes
that take participant’s perspectives seriously and focus on developing better understanding of the community’s
own resources for positive change.

PART ONE
The concept of Saleema
As a focus on the positive solution, the concept of Saleema provides a powerful platform for responding to these
challenges by recalling people to the beauty and goodness of God’s creation and reminding them that girls
and women were formed as they were for the purpose of procreation. Because
the concept of Saleema is a broad one, relevant to ideas about upbringing and
moral character as well as bodily integrity, it also offers a standpoint for engaging
with community concerns about appropriate sexual behaviour. In the Saleema
framework, good behaviour is the result of good upbringing according to the best
values of our culture and cannot be imposed by the cutting of flesh. The idea of
damaging something that is in a saleema condition strongly suggests violation
and provides solid footing for a human rights perspective that resonates with
our communities. The concept of Saleema as a positive value and ideal is deeply
embedded in the life of our communities and universally understood; it is not a new idea or something people
find difficult to understand. Developing shared meanings of ‘saleema’ in relation to the call to let every girl grow
up saleema is a basic step in Saleema communication, one that helps to unify the understanding of participating
groups. Finally, the concept of Saleema clarifies that there is no acceptable type of cutting for girls. There is no
possibility of making a ‘small cut’ and leaving a girl to be ‘a little bit saleema’; Saleema is an absolute value to be
upheld wholeheartedly, without room for doubts or equivocation.
Saleema is an
absolute value to
be upheld whole-heartedly
without
room for doubts or
equivocation

PART ONE
Saleema communication...
1. Makes change visible
2. Promotes communication
processes that raise the voices of
ordinary people affected by the
practise and encourage new types of
conversations
3. Uses and promotes terminologies
that reflect the positive benefits of
keeping girls uncut
4. Focusses on the strengths of our
culture for achieving positive change
5. Promotes group decision-making

PART ONE
4. Core visual tools
The Saleema Colours and the Taga
The Saleema Colours
A powerful visual can make a statement without the need for any words, like the sight of a crowd of people
bedecked in the Saleema Colours. Even someone who has no previous knowledge about the Saleema
movement will be struck by the distinctive colours and design, and is bound to speculate that the people
wearing them have something in common. These days the bright Saleema Colours, with their swirling design
pattern, are widely recognized in many different parts of Sudan as a symbol of the commitment to keeping
girls saleema. Wearing or displaying the Saleema Colours is a way of saying that you are part of the Saleema
movement. As a tool for making the Saleema commitment visible, the Saleema Colours are always used in print
materials and multimedia campaigns. Cloth materials in the Saleema Colours are also sometimes available for
use in community Saleema Taga pledge commitment signing celebrations. Part three of this handbook includes
a Saleema style book with guidelines on how to use the Saleema Colours and technical guidance for designers
to ensure that the colours themselves and the design pattern are always reproduced consistently.

PART ONE
The Saleema Taga
Along with the Saleema Colours, the Taga is another tool for Saleema communication that has a strong visual
impact. The Saleema Taga is reserved for a community or group’s firm commitment to keeping their girls
saleema. Following a series of community discussion and dialogue activities that culminates in a group decision
to keep girls saleema, community members sign their names or make their marks on a full-size Taga to publicize
their decision. The signed Taga, with the Saleema Taga pledge written on it, is then displayed publicly to spread
the word and invite more people to join the decision. A full size Taga – 10 or more metres of cloth – covered with
signatures makes a strong visual impact. The size of it alone communicates scale. A person signing it knows that
he or she is joining a large crowd of other people committed to keeping girls saleema.
On a different scale, the use of Saleema Pledge Commitments signed (on paper) by smaller groups of people
provides a visual reminder of action steps that group members have identified and committed to.

PART ONE
5. Benefits of keeping girls saleema
Safer motherhood – Women’s natural bodies
were designed for healthy reproduction and
childbirth. Intact muscles and undamaged flesh
stretch to meet the demands of childbirth and
return to a normal shape after the baby is born. The
process of labour and delivery is generally shorter
for saleema women. Babies of saleema mothers have
a better chance of surviving birth than babies of
mothers who have undergone genital cutting. When
a mother is not saleema her risk of dying during
childbirth is higher due to complications during
labour and delivery. A mother’s body cannot
function normally when muscles have been
damaged by cutting and healthy flesh has become
tough and scarred. This leads to long and painful
labour that can threaten the life of both the mother
and the baby. Saleema mothers have a much lower
risk of serious bleeding during childbirth.
Cleaner body – Women’s natural genitalia is easy to
keep clean. The body has a natural system for cleaning
itself during menstruation and at other times. This is
damaged by cutting, and normal body secretions can
become trapped and remain in unnatural pockets,
causing discomfort and other problems. Urination is
easily controlled when all muscles are intact, but cutting
girls and women often leads to problems controlling
urination, including the very serious problem of fistula.
Uncontrollable leakage of urine, whether serious as in
fistula or minor as experienced at some time by most
women who have been cut, causes embarrassment
and often restricts women’s physical activity. In severe
cases it often leads to social isolation.
Healthier body - Women who have not been cut experience fewer infections, fewer wounds, abrasions and
abscesses.
“When I look at my daughters I feel happy because they are part of a new generation of girls that will not suffer as we mothers
have suffered. I am not afraid of the way God made them. They are perfect the way they are.”
“How I came to believe in the goodness of keeping girls
saleema? It was when my wife delivered our first child.
We arrived at the hospital at the same time as another
family and I was waiting together with the father of that
family. After a few hours a nurse brought the news that his
child was born. When his wife was discharged with the baby
she came out walking and she was looking strong. Our son
was not even born up to then and I asked the nurse why my
wife was taking so much longer to deliver. I was afraid that
something was wrong. Then the nurse said, the other man’s
wife, she is saleema. She is fit for giving birth. But my wife,
she is not saleema, that is why the delivery will take long
time and my wife was suffering some complications. Finally
when my son was born it was a long time after that my wife
was allowed to be discharged, and she did not come out
walking, she came out being pushed in a wheelchair. That
day my eyes were opened. I saw that this was not the way
things should be”.
“I have got four daughters and the last three are all
saleema, although the first one was cut like me myself.
My daughters who are saleema have a natural cleanness
and purity, they do not suffer so many small infections
like those of us who were cut. They are fresh and clean.
People sometimes talk about the really serious problems
that cutting girls can cause, like when a girl dies, or has
fistula, or when a woman dies in childbirth. But most of
us don’t complain a lot about the common problems,
the ones we live with every day, because it feels too
personal. For example, I can’t lift something heavy
without leaking a bit of urine every time. It is a small
thing, perhaps, but it affects the quality of my life a lot. I
am aware that it is a problem for my firstborn daughter
too. I am happy that my younger daughters will not
suffer the embarrassment and feelings of shame caused
by this lack of cleanness.”

PART ONE
Better fertility – The infections that are more common in women who have had female genital cutting also
lead to fertility problems.
“I have got two wives, the first one is saleema and the second one is not. They are both women of good character, but the one
who is not saleema, she has suffered so many health problems. Normal marriage relations are something painful for her. Even
getting pregnant was difficult, even delivering the babies. These things that are meant to be natural. Seeing the difference
between my two wives I have no doubt that it is better for all girls and women to be left saleema. Both my wives they are
convinced that all our daughters must be kept saleema, it is the right decision.”
Feeling of psychological comfort - There is a feeling of comfort that comes from being complete and
never having experienced the physical and psychological shock and trauma that every woman who was cut as
a child remembers and is affected by throughout her whole life.
“My daughters and I share a very close relationship. I know that they have complete trust in me because I have never tricked
them or done any harmful thing to them. That’s important to me because like most women my age I remember the shock of
losing trust in my parents. It happened when I was so young but I remember it like yesterday: the day that I was cut. The physical
pain was terrible, of course, but much worse than that was the total confusion that came from knowing that my parents had
allowed this thing to be done to me. As an adult I can understand that parents of their generation thought they were doing the
right thing, even if it caused so much suffering. But as a child there was only shock and confusion, the feeling of being betrayed.
I was never free with my parents again in the same way after that. Some part of me always remained guarded. When my
husband and I agreed with our other relatives to keep all our daughters saleema I felt that a terrible burden had been taken off
me. I will never have to do to my daughters what was done to me. I will keep their trust. They will never experience that terrible
shock of betrayal by their parents”.
Happier marriages – Happier intimate marital sexual relations
“I grew up saleema, which was unusual for someone of my generation. I have always been happy to feel whole, complete, but
before getting married sometimes I used to worry about what my husband would think. You hear so many things from other
women about what men expect. But my husband never complained about our intimate sexual relationship. In fact, he thinks,
"she is great”.

PART ONE
Benefits of keeping girls saleema from a medical point of view
The questions and answers below highlight several of the benefits of keeping girls saleema. They are excerpted
from the booklet Questions and Answers on Saleema from a Religious and Medical Point of View, published by
NCCW (2014).
The full text of the booklet contains seven additional medical questions articulated by NCCW and the Ministry
of Endowment and Guidance and answered by Professor Nasr Abdullah Nasr, member of the Society of
Gynecologists and Obstetricians.
Q. Which is the easier and what is the difference between cleaning and purifying the external genitals of the
uncircumcised (saleema) female and circumcised one?
A. It is easier to clean and purify the external genitals of the saleema (uncircumcised) female because water
easily reaches and cleanses the external genitals, but in case of the circumcised one cleaning and purifying
cannot be done thoroughly as some parts are hidden due to jointing and sewing.
Q. Does leaving the clitoris intact (without female genital cutting) affect the sexual behaviour of the girl and
how?
A. The clitoris plays an essential role to feel concupiscence during sexual intercourses. This is a guaranteed right
by Islam to the man and the woman so as to enjoy the marital life. The clitoris has this role in the marital life due
to the existence of a neural network around clitoris beside a heavy blood circulation at the same position.
Q. What is the relation between leaving the external genitals without female genital cutting and the
performance of the woman’s monthly cycle?
A. When the external genitals are complete then the menstrual blood flows naturally and nothing remains to
harm the girl. In the case of female genital cutting, particularly when cutting or joining the labia minor and the
labia major, some of menstrual blood accumulates inside the vagina after the end of the days of the blood cycle
and such state forms a suitable environment for bacteria growth. This creates conditions for infection for the
circumcised girl. In addition there will be secreted material having an unpleasant smell in the next days of the
blood cycle.
Q. What is the role of the genitals affected by cutting with regard to sexual appetite (concupiscence)? Does
female genital cutting minimize, balance or increase the appetite, and how does this happen?
A. The genitals most affected by female genital cutting include the clitoris, the labia minor and the labia major.
The clitoris plays an essential role in sexual appetite, and when parts of the organ have been cut through female
genital cutting it causes a turmoil in the sexual appetite. Such organs are sensitive because they are composed
of a quantity of nerves and blood vessels.
All should know a fact which is not understood by a lot of people that the feeling of genitals remains to a lesser
degree even in the state of the worst female genital cutting because some of these organs that are cut and
joined still preserve a part of the nerves and blood vessels.
Q. Some people say that delivery is something natural and it can occur without assistance if the woman is
saleema. How is that?
A. In any delivery there should always be another party to assist the woman in dealing with any complications
that could arise, whether the woman is saleema or circumcised. In the case of a woman with female genital
cutting, especially if the type includes cutting and joining/sewing of the labia minor and the labia major, without
a person beside her for assistance bad consequences will occur immediately and may lead to her death later.
The woman may end up being handicapped, or she may develop the medical problem called fistula, or nasoor.
But in uncomplicated deliveries (with no special medical risks) a woman who is saleema (without female genital
cutting) may deliver without the need for assistance and no harm will happen to her or to her baby. This is
because in a saleema woman the vaginal opening has not been subjected to any amendment that caused a
tightness obstructing the exit of baby’s head. By contrast, when a woman has been cut the head of the foetus
will not be able to pass through the vaginal opening without surgery.

PART ONE
6. Saleema communication values
Positive Personal Patient Understanding
Clear and Simple Spiritual Confident Visible Everywhere
Saleema communication is more than the use of special colours and a new way to use words. Saleema
communication has a particular style based on commitment to a special set of communication values. Adopting
these values changes how we communicate. For facilitators working directly with communities it can require
some practice, especially if you enjoy a good argument!
Positive
Saleema communication is about solutions: first and
foremost it is positive. Saleema infuses positive values,
ideas and emotions into communication about female
genital cutting in ways that both add new direction to
the discourse and amplify existing positive trends. The
most obvious example of the positive focus of Saleema
communication is the promotion of a positive concept
and name for uncut girls and women.
What’s important about being positive? People receive
positive and negative messages in different ways
depending on a number of factors. There is no single
formula for which type of message is more effective
at what step in a change process. However, there is
evidence that too much negative messaging turns off
people’s interest. This may especially be the case when
negative messaging comes at a stage where people do not feel deeply involved with the perspective behind the
message. Even where involvement is high, negative messages that cause people worry or alarm without offering
them an alternative that feels attainable are more likely to result in despair and resignation than positive action.
Whereas negative messaging can result in people ‘disconnecting’ from the communication process,
communication tools that use strongly positive concepts and appealing role models invite people to connect
through a desire to affiliate. People’s recall of positive messages is generally better than for negative messages.
This is particularly the case if those negative messages made them feel bad about themselves or worried that
something bad might happen to them. But negative messaging does have a role in communication when it is
properly staged. For example, there is some evidence that messages about negative outcomes may have most
impact when people are exposed to reminders about them very close to the time they must make a decision.
The impact of well-timed negative messaging is of course far more likely when there is a clear positive choice
to be made.
Saleema is about positive solutions. In the Saleema framework, communication with a negative focus is best
restricted to information on the harmful effects of female genital cutting (e.g. health risks, psychosocial injury).
Since a wealth of communication materials and activity guides already exist to raise awareness of the harmful
effects of cutting girls the Saleema Initiative does not produce anything of that sort. In addition to spreading the
use of new positive language and raising awareness of the health and social benefits of keeping girls saleema,
Saleema aims to foreground the cultural strengths that make change possible and to make people feel good
about their own and their communities’ ability to change for the good.
Saleema communication affirms parental love and care. Saleema communication is grounded in the positive
recognition that families love their daughters and want to do what’s best for them. A family’s earlier decision to
Omar’s Story
“My brothers and sisters and I all decided together, back
in the 1980s, that when we had children of our own
we would never cut the girls. And when I got married
Amal also agreed, so all of our daughters, we did not
cut them. But at that time it wasn’t something we could
speak about. Sometimes neighbours or distant relatives
used to ask, ‘this girl is growing, have you… you know?’
And I used to just look down and say, ‘No, no, we don’t
agree with that thing, we didn’t do it to her.’ That was all
we could say in those days. But now if someone asks
about our youngest daughter I can look at them and
say ‘We kept all our daughters as saleema.’ And when I
say that I feel happy - I feel great.”

PART ONE
cut a girl would have had the same motivation as the decision they take now to keep her saleema: their sense of
what is best for her now and in future.
Saleema communication affirms the importance of social unity. Our people have a lot of cultural capital when
it comes to social unity. The feeling of belonging, of being a member of a harmonious group, is valued for itself,
not only to avoid conflict or social sanction. The custom of female genital cutting, now often seen as a source
of division within families and communities, itself was once viewed as a unifying force for community identity.
The same factors that supported keeping cutting as a norm, such as people’s reluctance to stand apart from the
group or to disturb the balance of the group, also support the shift to keeping girls saleema.
Saleema communication promotes inclusive dialogue in which the perspectives of all community members are
listened to respectfully and with positive regard.
Saleema communicates a positive message visually as well as in words, using beautiful colours and attractive
images, holding up a positive mirror on the culture.
Personal
Saleema communication materials speak in the voices of ordinary people, telling their personal stories. It is part of
the shift away from outside expertise to focus on ordinary people’s own personal experiences and perspectives.
Mothers and fathers who have taken the decision to keep their daughters saleema and all the different paths
that led them there; sisters who have experienced being different from each other; grandparents who have
seen and celebrated the change in their community; new parents making the Born Saleema pledge for their
first child, a tiny baby girl. The expertise these ordinary people have gained through their own experiences
offers valuable models to others contemplating change. ‘Keeping it personal’ in Saleema communication means
speaking in your own voice, about your own personal experiences. Thus when a doctor tells her story she speaks
as a mother or as a daughter or as a grandmother or a sister or as all of these roles, not as a medical expert
with no apparent personal involvement in the issue. When a famous singer or leader speaks as an ambassador
for Saleema he speaks about his own life experience and of the process of decision-making in his own family.
Saleema mass media materials are also designed to echo and reflect common dilemmas and the solutions
embraced by everyday people. All the stories used in Saleema radio and TV spots as well as the quotations that
appear as messages on Saleema posters and other print materials are drawn from interviews and discussions
with ordinary people talking about their own lives.
Amira’s story
“As a doctor I know that every part of the human body was designed for a purpose, none more so than a woman’s reproductive
parts. As a woman myself I have lived with many problems due to being cut, especially when giving birth. My husband is a
doctor too and he was the first one to say that we must leave our daughters saleema. Still, there were times when it wasn’t easy
for us to feel strong in our decision.
My mother didn’t understand and she put a lot of pressure on me. I thought about lying to her but she is very tough – she could
even inspect the girls herself. So I had to tell her the truth and put up with a lot of arguments and complaints. I have always tried
to be a good daughter and it hurt me to feel that I was disappointing her. For several years there were problems in the family
because of this disagreement, especially when my younger sister also decided to leave her daughters saleema and my mother
blamed me. I was even afraid to leave my girls with their grandmother at school holidays.
To tell you the truth, there was a time when I almost decided to cut them just to improve relations with my mother. But then
my husband said ‘You have a duty to your mother and a duty to our daughters, too.’ He said cutting the girls was not the solution.
It was my father who helped the situation. Before this he always used to say issues like this were ‘women’s business’ and he
refused to get involved. But because of the problem between me and my mother he opened a discussion with his brothers and
all their sons, and this led to a family meeting. My mother was surprised to hear almost everyone saying that they wanted to
leave their daughters saleema, especially the most respected women.
That was years ago. My daughters are grown and the eldest is married now. My mother is very old but she still has an active
mind. Recently there was a famous singer talking on the radio about the Saleema movement and I was happy when I heard my
mother telling my youngest daughter ‘Why do they make a big fuss? It is nothing new. We decided a long time ago'.

PART ONE
Patient
The Saleema Communication Initiative is designed as a long-running undertaking. Change takes time. The slow
time of perceptions shifting, of group and individual processes of reflection and re-evaluation, of negotiation
within individual relationships and within larger social groups, of set-backs and leaps forward. It is not a case
of simply presenting a winning argument. Change takes time to organise. It takes time to reach effective scale.
Exposing people to the same simple incontestable message repeated over long periods of time is often more
effective in re-orientating their perspective than one very persuasively constructed comprehensive argument.
Progress is not linear, it is sometimes circular, doubling back, regressing, surging ahead again. Some ideas have
the most impact when they’ve been around so long they seem obvious to everyone. Other ideas jolt people
into immediate action. Repetition over a long time frame can signal stagnation or strategic choice. Although
substantial change, when it comes, may appear to be very rapid the groundwork for it has very often taken a
long time to lay.
Understanding
Saleema communication starts from a
position of empathy with families for
the difficult choices they have faced in
relation to the custom of female genital
cutting. This is reflected in Saleema
communication materials through a
commitment to exploring challenges
and barriers to change, and raising the
voices of people who have succeeded
in overcoming them. Saleema is always
with the community, not against it, and
respectful of its sensitivities.
Clear and simple
When it comes to discussion of female genital cutting, Saleema is clear and simple: it means no damage, no
cutting of any type. Perfect, as created by God.
Saleema is an absolute value: you cannot keep your daughter ‘a little bit saleema’.
To debates about ‘sunna’ compared with ‘pharonic’ and so on there is one clear and simple answer to make: we
want our girls to be saleema. Nothing further needs to be said.
Spiritual
Saleema asserts respect for God’s creation: it’s a core value of the society and at the very heart of the Saleema
Initiative. Saleema engages the participation of like-minded religious leaders and finds new ways to amplify and
spread their teachings that female genital cutting is not required by any religion.
“I used to spend so much time arguing with people who promoted the
idea that female genital cutting is good. There are always one or two
people in any audience who are there just to start a debate and they will
argue constantly and spoil the whole meeting. The worst was when they
started talking about ‘sunna’ cut and saying it is good, it is only 'pharonic'
that is bad. Then the whole group would break out discussing and arguing
about different types of cutting and the meeting would end that way.
Now when that happens I just let them have their say, and then I give my
answer: we want our girls to be saleema. That answer changes everything.
I no longer waste my energy arguing with people who are not ready to
join the change.”
- NGO worker

PART ONE
Confident
If Saleema was a lady she would have an air of quiet confidence about her: she is sure of herself and her beliefs.
She takes time to explain but she does not stoop to argue. She avoids the pitfall of debates, knowing that they
can only end with winners and losers, dividing people instead of bringing them together. She is tolerant of those
who speak against her but she does not waste her energy trying to convince them. They will change in their own
time, and there are so many others who are interested in engaging in new thinking now. Her tone of confidence
and her steady optimism gives them courage.

PART ONE
Visible
The Saleema change is already happening
all around us. More people, individually
and as members of communities, develop
confidence to join the change as it becomes
more visible in the society around them.
Making change visible is one of the most
important Saleema Initiative strategies and
a key aim of Saleema’s main communication
tools: the Saleema Colours and the
Saleema Taga. Wearing or displaying the
Saleema Colours allows individuals and
whole communities to communicate their
commitment in a way that is bold, colourful,
fun and also suitably discreet. Anyone who
supports the shift to keeping girls saleema is
entitled to wear the colours; it is not a direct
reference to the condition of any specific
girl’s or woman’s body. It is a statement of
commitment to a Saleema future for their
own family and the larger society. By signing
their names on the Taga people put their
commitment on record for others to see. The thousands upon thousands of names filling the length of a Taga
demonstrate to others who are still considering the change that they and their families will be part of a very
large movement of people.
Everywhere
The concept of bringing up our girls and honouring our women as Saleemat is a big idea, a big house, a far-reaching
social transformation. It is an ideal already embedded deep in our culture that we now challenge
ourselves to attain, not as individuals acting alone but in family groups and whole communities. To support
this improvement effectively we need to work at a big scale. No one should be left out. Every group engaged at
community level, every activity conducted, should be seen in relation to the larger society. Certain foundational
goals are best achieved through working at the largest possible scale, like making strategic use of mass media
as a powerful tool for spreading and promoting the use of new terminologies.

PART ONE
7. Saleema messages and message style
What should we expect from a message?
The idea that organised communication is about sending and receiving messages is a basic one that is often
over-simplified. In the Sender-Message-Receiver model of communication, the facilitator of an organised
communication activity is usually identified as the 'sender' while the community members are seen as 'receivers.'
Simple, right? Well, it would be simple if this was the only time and place communication on this issue had
ever happened or will ever happen for these people, if this message was the only ‘message’ on the issue, if
this facilitator was the only ‘sender’ and these were the only ‘receivers,’ if the subject of the communication
was something with no connection to the receivers personal lives. This is definitely not the case when we
communicate about issues related to female genital cutting.
A community participant receives any message a speaker sends through organised communication about the
issue of cutting girls through the filter of a much wider field: of values held, of a lifetime of things said and heard,
implied or tacitly understood, about female genital cutting. This larger and long-lasting communication includes
all the things a receiver has ever heard and said and observed and surmised in relation to cutting, within their
families and close personal relationships, in the larger community, and through channels such as mass media,
both in the past and on a continuing basis. In Sudan today it is a dynamic, wide-ranging, field of messages made
up of many different voices and perspectives. It includes ideas and voices that support and reinforce each other
as well as those that conflict with and contradict each other. Any message ‘sent’ through one particular material
or activity becomes part of this broader field of ideas and is interpreted by receivers according to how it fits
with their established knowledge, opinions and experiences. An effective message succeeds in engaging the
receiver’s broader field of ideas, affirming a preference or prejudice, throwing a belief into new light, casting a
shadow of doubt on a received idea, sparking a new insight. An ineffective message is quickly disregarded.
All messages are not equal: messages sent by some senders automatically have more power than others based
on the sender’s relationship to the receiver. A message that confirms a receiver’s existing belief tends to have
more power than one that conflicts with it. A simple message repeated over time is likely to have more impact
than a complex message delivered on one occasion.

PART ONE
The Saleema Initiative has a message style that is simple, distinctive, and personal. In visual materials message
texts and images are designed to intrigue, to catch attention and to resonate on a deep level with the personal
experience of community members.
Saleema communication sticks to a few key messages and makes extensive use of indirect and non-directive
messaging. It has been said that Saleema messages are not aimed like arrows straight at targets but rather
wafted like perfumes that catch people’s attention unawares. Repetition of key Saleema values and ideas staged
over a long time frame is an important strategy. An element of mystery is sometimes deliberately included
through the use of intriguing hooks that pique people’s curiosity and draw them into a process of interpretation.
Since most people are more accustomed to direct, unambiguous messages, it is not uncommon to hear people
reacting with some confusion at their first exposure to Saleema communication messages: What is this about?
What is the message here?
What is the rationale for such a message style? Why not just tell people, and tell them only once, what you want
them to do?
These questions are not infrequently raised, especially in relation to the aim of ending female genital cutting.
Here it is useful to recall that decades of exposure to messages telling people not to cut their daughters had
little impact on family practice. The point is not to tell people what to do; the point is to engage people in
reflection and new ways of thinking that allow them to reach new understandings of their own experience (as
individuals, as members of families and communities) in relation to the ideal of Saleema. Saleema’s indirect
messages invite people to construct relevant meanings based on their own life experiences; the focus is on the
step-by-step actions that draw people into processes of reflection and values clarification aimed at generating
a new consensus.
On the most immediate level, all Saleema materials ask audiences to make connections: between words and
images, between colours and patterns, between words and pictures and emotions, between the contents of a
poster or sticker or radio spot and their own personal life experiences.
Rather than a list of key messages, it is useful to think of Saleema communication as creating a message field. In
style, Saleema messages echo and reflect perspectives and experiences that are common in our communities.
Most Saleema messages have one of two general types of content. The first are the Saleema basic messages that
reinforce the idea that keeping girls saleema is a positive decision made by increasing numbers of families. A
second general group of messages are those that draw on real-life stories to explore specific challenges and the
responding strengths of individuals and communities that have joined the Saleema movement. Examples of the
second type of messages can be found in the ‘Saleema Because…’ series.
Saleema field of basic messages
Expressed as simple statements, the Saleema field of basic messages would include the
following ideas:
• (the condition of being) saleema is good.
• (the condition of being) saleema is beautiful.
• (the condition of being) saleema is clean and pure.
• (the condition of being) saleema is healthy.
• (the condition of being) saleema is a marriageable condition
• (the condition of being) saleema is God’s intention.
• (the condition of being) saleema is a cause of happiness and joy.
• (the concept of) saleema is integral to our culture.

PART ONE
• The idea of keeping girls saleema is growing / spreading.
• These colours / symbols mean the subject is related to keeping girls saleema.
• (In communication about Saleema) the voices, experiences and perspectives of ordinary people are
important.
• (Communication about) Saleema is about making the right decision for girls and women.
• (Communication about) Saleema is about making a commitment together with others.
• (Communication about) Saleema is about social harmony, unity, family and cultural identity.
• (Communication about) Saleema is everywhere.
• (Communication about) Saleema is about moral fibre and the importance of character (both in terms of
social upbringing and having the courage to change / make the right decision).
• (Communication about) Saleema is about what is best in our culture(s)
Saleema communication does not include reference to female genital cutting in its main field of messages, a fact
that has perplexed some observers. On the most basic level the reason for this is that Saleema communication
is not about cutting. Saleema is ultimately not even about not cutting. Saleema is about the perfect way God
made girls and women. It is what belongs in the gap felt in public discourses about female genital cutting: an
appealing and safe alternative to cutting girls. To attempt to develop and build up the idea of Saleema with
constant reference to cutting would be to tie it to a different and conflicting message field and weight it with old
baggage. This is not to say that communication tools that focus on the harm caused by female genital cutting
should not use the Saleema terminology – not at all. But the whole Saleema package, the branding so to speak,
should not be mixed helter-skelter with communication components that are harm-focussed.
As people begin to understand that Saleema communication is about
what is best in our culture, the early expectation that Saleema should
send direct messages about the harm caused by female genital
cutting begins to fall away. In place of the old assumptions comes
an understanding that the style of Saleema is to invite self-reflection,
asking people to measure their own personal and community
outlooks and actions with a Saleema yardstick and trusting them
to make important connections on their own. Such important
connections crucially include, but are not limited to, the custom of
female genital cutting. The opportunity to explore different aspects
of what it could mean to keep a girl saleema and to come up with
personal or group interpretations is an important part of Saleema
communication. There is no definitive set of Saleema characteristics
– different groups emphasize different aspects.
Pre-testing of Saleema Initiative tools has repeatedly confirmed that the great majority of community
communication participants make a connection with female genital cutting on their own. Sometimes the
connection is made immediately. At other times the connection is expressed tentatively at first but rapidly
grows in certainty as discussion develops within a group. This linkage is all the more powerful for people
having made it on their own, and often leads to communication participants ‘owning’ and sharing with other
participants information and experiences relevant to the risks of female genital cutting. Informal peer-to-peer
communication of this type, observed repeatedly in the process of pre-testing Saleema communication tools, is
a thousand times more powerful than any direct message we could send. A common example is when members
of a group of women participants begin talking about their own personal experiences of health problems arising
from having been cut, leading others who have had the same problem to realize that their problem is common
among their peers - they are not alone. A direct message stating that female genital cutting commonly causes
health problems does not have the same personal impact.
Why doesn’t Saleema
communication talk about
cutting girls? On the most
basic level the reason is that
Saleema communication is
not about cutting. Saleema
is ultimately not even about
not cutting. Saleema is about
the perfect way God made
girls and women.

PART ONE
The Saleema style book section of this toolkit contains important guidance on when and how to use Saleema
messages and symbols in relation to communication programmes that contain a significant focus on the harm
caused by female genital cutting.
The Saleema strapline, or ground message, used throughout Saleema communication is, with its clear call to
action, the most direct and explicit Saleema message:
Every girl is born saleema, let every girl grow up saleema
But what does it mean to let a girl grow up saleema? The audience is invited to actively engage with the question.
The aim is not to deliver a prescriptive message but to stimulate people to make interpretations that resonate
with their experience, to arrive at new understandings of their own lives.
This Saleema poster from 2010 contains the ground message
and also sends a lot of supporting messages through the
visuals. In an indirect but very clear way, it creates connections
between the presence of families and especially of girls and
women, the word 'saleema', the colours and pattern of the
Saleema design, and the idea of beauty. A sense that
something of importance to the whole society is happening is
conveyed by the diverse crowd of people moving in the
background. Their unity of purpose (everyone is moving in the
same direction) and the positive mood conveyed suggest
social harmony. The figures in silhouette provide visual
interest, throwing the contrasting Saleema Colours into sharp
relief; they also add an element of mystery that intrigues
people and causes them to ask ‘What is this all about? What is
the difference between the colourful figures and the
silhouettes? What is the message here?’ The main message
text, which is drawn from a real-life interview with a mother
who has committed to keeping her younger daughters
saleema, alerts people to the fact that Saleema communication
is associated with a choice or decision: ‘Saleema…because I
am strong in my decision’.
How do we know that the poster does all of these things?
Like all other Saleema Initiative communication tools it was
carefully pre-tested at community level in different parts of
the country before mass production. Saleema pre-tests are
designed to explore all the associations people make with the
words and images, how involved they feel in the scenes and
ideas represented, and the interpretations they make of them.
Have a look at the Saleema field of
basic messages listed on pp 37-38.
How many of those messages is this
poster sending?

PART ONE
'Golden Rules' for developing Saleema messages
Many of NCCW’s partners in Saleema have asked for guidelines on developing messages for Saleema communication, both for face-to-face communication in communities and to be used in materials.
Face-to-face communication for Saleema emphasizes discussion and dialogue processes that support participants in talking about their own experiences and perspectives; messages to support these processes focus on creating a respectful and comfortable group environment in which people talk freely and listen with the aim of understanding. These can be found in the guidance provided in relevant activity guides. In addition, reviewing the Saleema communication values (pp 31-35) is always good preparation for activity facilitators.
The guidelines presented below were developed for partners that want to produce Saleema messages for print or other materials.
1.1
Start by reviewing the Saleema communication values (pp 31-35); messages you develop should always be consistent with these values.
2.2
Keep it positive: Saleema messages aim to encourage and inspire people. This includes visuals as well as texts.
3.3
Contribute to the strategic repetition of Saleema basic messages by including them in your materials – it’s important! The more obvious these messages come to seem the more progress we make. Check the list of Saleema basic messages (pp 38-37) to see how many you can include. Remember that visuals can send messages (both planned and accidental!) even without words.
4.4
Do not include negative messages. At times you may have important reasons for sending a negative message; in this case, do not include Saleema messages / branding.
5.5
Always include the Saleema strapline (use exact wording: ‘Every girl is born saleema, let every girl grow up saleema’).
6.6
Any message you develop to use in addition to the strapline should clearly reflect and promote the values at the heart of the Saleema Initiative:
•
•
Upbringing according to the best values of our culture.
•
Belief that God created girls and women in the best and safest way to fulfil their future marriage and child-bearing roles .
7.7
Talk in the voices of ordinary people. Personal testimony is a powerful tool. People exposed to the message should have a sense of who is speaking, and that they speak from their own experience. This is part of the commitment to put ordinary people’s experiences at the centre of Saleema communication.
8.8
Show, don’t tell. For example, if you want to develop a message that will inspire grandmothers to open discussions with their married daughters about keeping their granddaughters saleema, model the action through a person or character’s experience, as in this example from radio:
“A long time ago I used to say of course all my granddaughters must be prepared for adult life in the same way I prepared their mothers. I insisted on it to all my daughters when their first girls reached the right age. But these days we grandmothers would rather see our granddaughters among those who are being kept saleema – in fact, I insist on it. Now that my granddaughter, Sara is nearly reaching ‘that age,’ I need to make sure my daughter Magda knows my opinion: Sara should be kept like the others that are growing up saleema.”
40

PART ONE
9
Use simple Sudanese Arabic and colloquial speech that is understood all over the country.
1010
Reflect the interdependency of people’s decision-making about keeping girls saleema; avoid depicting people who make the Saleema commitment as renegades who act alone.
1111
Use the Saleema Colours designs correctly (see style book section, pp 166-174).
1212
For messages related to the Saleema Pledge Commitments tool always include an appropriate commitment text. This can be part of a person’s speech, for example:
(Man's voice, speaking positively)
"When I joined others at the mosque in making a commitment to talk with my wife about keeping our daughters saleema I never imagined how much I would learn” .
Review the Saleema Pledge Commitments guidelines (pp 52-60) for further information.
1313
Review draft materials carefully. Always ask: What messages are we actually sending with this?
1414
Pre-test all draft materials with community members to understand what messages your material is sending, and revise accordingly. While colleagues and technical experts have a role to play in reviewing draft materials, it is the interpretations and perspectives of community members that matter most.
Messages used in Saleema communication materials sometimes contain ‘hooks’ designed to catch attention and invite people to actively interpret meanings that are not directly spelled out. The Saleema strapline itself is an example of a message that contains such a hook: it draws people into the act of interpreting what 'saleema' means in relation to girls being born and growing up.
Another example can be found in the radio message in rule 13 above, reproduced here:
(man's voice, speaking positively)
"When I joined others at the mosque in making a commitment to talk with my wife about keeping our daughters saleema I never imagined how much I would learn”
The man's speech conveys three important things:
•
The mosque / religion is relevant to keeping girls saleema.
•
Some men are joining together on the issue of Saleema.
•
Talk between husbands and wives is relevant to keeping girls saleema.
It also contains an intriguing ‘hook’ with the statement “I never imagined how much I would learn.” Someone exposed to this message can only speculate about what the man learned; there is not enough information to know for sure. The only clue given is that it was a positive experience for him. The hook is designed to invite speculation; it does not provide an answer. A message of this type requires rigorous and extensive pre-testing to understand how people respond to it; the main point is to ensure that the hook is indeed intriguing and does not contradict or interfere with any Saleema basic messages. If time or other resources are too short to allow for adequate pre-testing it is best to stick with spreading the Saleema basic messages.
41

PART ONE
8. Saleema strategies
The Saleema Initiative works through three main activities to put its values and communication principles into
action.
Mass media campaigns
Multi-media public awareness campaigns are used to reach as many people as possible with the Saleema
message. These large-scale mass media campaigns started in 2010 (a small-scale test campaign was run in
2008) and to date have included the ‘Saleema Because…’ campaign and the Saleema Colours / Sufara'a Saleema
campaign. Other Saleema communication campaigns that are more focussed on specific populations may
also include a mass media component. An example of this is the use of billboards and rickshaws branded with
the Saleema Colours in the ‘Born Saleema’ communication programme discussed further below. In addition to
integrated multi-media campaigns, mass media activities for Saleema include stand-alone media tools such as
long-running serialized radio dramas, one-off animated audio-visual spots and songs.
Saleema communication uses mass media to create widespread recognition of the Saleema terminology and
symbols in a field of messages that broadcast and affirm the Saleema values. This is to develop and position the
concept of Saleema as an important framework for communication at community level. Language is dynamic
and changes constantly under new influences. Mass media, used strategically, can help change the language
used to describe uncut girls and women. The most effective way to do this is by modelling the language in use,
in simple natural ways, by a wide range of people, repeatedly over a long time frame. Simplicity and repetition
are the keys: a clear, simple, message repeated over and over again over a long time frame. To catch people’s
attention repeatedly and avoid staleness requires in addition some degree of variation: new campaign cycles
with new faces, new stories, new conversations - new, but always ‘on message’ and using the same key visual and
verbal message components.

PART ONE
Beyond the basic aim of positioning positive terminology and creating recognition for Saleema communication
symbols such as the Saleema Colours, mass media campaigns aim to create interest among the public and
amplify the growing trend of keeping girls saleema by making it visible and talked about. Mass media also
provides a powerful means of modelling new types of conversations and introducing new voices into the public
discourse on female genital cutting. Radio in particular has been used to tell the stories of ordinary people and
whole communities that have reached the decision to keep their daughters saleema. Such testimonial-style
tools situate the decision to keep a daughter saleema within the social context of families and communities at
different stages of engagement with the Saleema framework. The stories, which are all drawn from real-life case
studies, raise awareness of specific decision points and explore the challenges families have encountered and
the ways they have overcome them.
While the emphasis is largely on the experience of ordinary citizens, the Saleema Ambassadors component of
the 2013 Saleema Colours campaign introduced the voices and faces of many famous people, eminent leaders
or celebrities from different fields, talking about their own commitment to keeping girls saleema.
The Sufara’a Saleema (ambassadors for Saleema) group members, including widely respected religious leaders,
well-known singers, poets, and other cultural figures, participate in the mass media campaigns and at public
events on a wholly voluntary basis. Their well-recognized faces and voices help to catch people’s attention.
Their participation in the Saleema media campaigns underscores how the issue of keeping girls saleema is
relevant to the whole society. Famous as the Sufara’a Saleema members are, they and their families have faced
the same dilemmas as ordinary people. The custom of cutting girls has also been part of their personal stories;
now, as the ideal of keeping girls saleema spreads, they and their families join with others in making the Saleema
commitment. The everyday settings in which the Saleema Ambassadors appear in many of the visuals for the
Saleema Colours media campaign emphasize that before and beyond their fame they are ordinary people too:
members of families, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, aunties and uncles, grandparents, and members of
the wider community.

PART ONE
Tools to support communication with families in institutional
settings: the Born Saleema programme
The arrival of a new baby is an emotional high point in family life. When the new arrival is a girl, it is an especially
relevant time for Saleema communication. As informal conversations in hospital waiting areas frequently attest,
most people understand very well the connection between prolonged, difficult labour and female genital
cutting. Indeed, a birth in the family is one of the most common occasions on which people reflect critically on
the custom of cutting girls. Many families and communities that have decided to keep their daughters saleema
directly link their decisions to past experiences of difficult or dangerous childbirth. The Saleema Initiative provides
tools to facilitate communication with and within families around the birth of new baby girls through the ‘Born
Saleema’ programme. Now running in eighteen healthcare facilities in seven states ( Khartoum, Northern State,
Gedaref,Kassala, West Darfur, North Darfur, South Darfur ), and with plans to expand the programme in 2015 and
beyond, ‘Born Saleema’ is a collaborative effort between the NCCW and federal and state Ministries of Health.
Every Girl is Born Saleema, Let Every Girl Grow up Saleema

PART ONE
There are three main components to the Born Saleema programme:
• Visibility within the health facility and surrounding area
Aim: to raise awareness of the Saleema movement among families accessing maternity and well-child services
through fixed-site health facilities.
• Family counselling session including the invitation to pledge (Saleema Taga)
Aim: to engage mothers and fathers of new-born baby girls in communication about the benefits of keeping
girls saleema, including the opportunity to join others in pledging to keep the new arrival saleema for life
(Saleema Taga signing).
• Follow up
Aim: to strengthen and support the decisions of individual parents and family groups that have pledged
to keep their new-born girls saleema for life. Follow-up activities are partly carried out through well-baby
services.
Each of the three main components is implemented through activities that involve numerous communication
steps and tools. As the programme is tailored to fit the specialist environment of a healthcare facility the Born
Saleema tools are not included in the present toolkit.

PART ONE
Tools to support community-based activities
When large-scale campaigns are run on national and state media, designs on the same themes are also produced
in small print media such as posters and stickers that can be used to introduce or amplify the Saleema messages
at neighbourhood level in communities.
NCCW’s partner organisations have frequently used these tools to introduce the Saleema Colours in communities
where they have ongoing discussion groups. Displayed in public locations throughout the community, these
materials act as visual cues and reminders. For those already engaged in organised discussions, they bring the
idea of keeping girls saleema out of the closure of a specific group and into the community at large. Seeing
Saleema messages spread throughout the community reinforces participants’ engagement with the issue and
amplifies its importance by confirming that the discussions they have been part of are linked to a much larger
movement. The visibility of Saleema communication materials in their communities also provides members of
organised discussion groups with opportunities to open informal conversations with others in their homes and
communities.
Displaying posters and other small print media tools in public locations throughout the community also serves to
introduce the Saleema messages to the wider community, reaching people who have not been part of organised
discussion and dialogue processes. If the materials are used at the same time that the mass media campaigns
are ongoing they help to create a local link for community members who are also exposed to the campaign
messages on radio or TV. This overlap is very helpful in communicating to people that their community is
included in and important to something that is happening on a much bigger scale. The same small print media
tools, along with other mass media campaign materials such as audio-visual ( TV ) spots and audio-recordings of
radio spots, can also be used in connection with organised Saleema discussions and activities at any time after
the campaign media cycle has finished.
The materials linked to mass media campaign cycles are included in a broader set of Saleema communication
tools for partners to use in their work with communities. These community-level tools fall into two main
groups.

PART ONE
In the first group are tools to support community discussion and dialogue processes. In addition to the audio-and
audio-visual recordings, posters and stickers mentioned above, this group includes tools such as comic
books, health information leaflets, and facilitators’ guides for organised discussion and dialogue activities. Part
two of this toolkit contains information about a number of these tools as well as detailed guidance on how to
use them at community level.
The second group is comprised of tools to guide and support
larger-scale community activities. This group includes the
Saleema Pledge Commitments and Taga tools and the
supporting Saleema Colours visibility tools.
Detailed guidance on when and how to use the Saleema
Pledge Commitments and Taga tools is available in part two
of this toolkit. Guidelines for the use of the Saleema Colours
are included in part three.

PART TWO
SALEEMA PLEDGE COMMITMENTS
PART TWO

PART TWO

PART TWO
Tools for face-to-face
communication
Introduction
The Saleema Initiative promotes communication processes that raise the voices of ordinary
people affected by female genital cutting and encourage new types of conversations.
What does it mean to encourage new types of conversations about female genital cutting?
In the Saleema framework there are three important elements:
• The development of new communication lines between groups that have not typically engaged with
each other in ways that increase their understanding of the impact of female genital cutting on their
own lives and those of others. For example, husbands and wives.
• A move away from transfer of expert knowledge to discussion and sharing of personal experience and
perspectives by the ordinary people who are most affected by the practice. For group facilitators, this
often involves a shift in role from teaching pre-determined content (e.g. health risks of female genital
cutting) to encouraging and supporting participants to produce and share their own ‘content’ in the
form of their personal stories and perspectives on the issue.
• A change in the most common form and style of organised discussions from lecture and debate to dialogue.
These shifts are reflected in the conversations modelled in Saleema mass media materials as well as in guidance
for face-to-face communication activities such as those included in this section of the handbook.

Saleema Toolkit "English"

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Saleema Toolkit "English"

Similar to Saleema Toolkit "English" (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Saleema Toolkit "English"