Five Teenagers to be Awarded for Innovating an Anti-FGM App

Five teenage girls from Kisumu county have  won the coveted African of the year Award for creating a mobile application aimed at ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Stacy Owino, Purity Achieng’, Ivy Akinyi, Synthia Otieno and Macrine Atieno, or Restorers as they like to call themselves are aged between 17 -18. They created I-cut mobile app two years ago during a technovation challenge organized by LakeHub, a technology innovation centre in Kisumu in a bid to restore hope to hopeless FGM victims.

The app works by connecting young girls facing the threat of the cut with local rescue centers. It also gives legal and medical intervention to those who have already undergone FGM. App users  can call, text, get rescue feedback, make a donation to the rescue centers and get relevant information on FGM.

“We established the app after we realized that the efforts of activists against FGM were not being complemented. We wanted to offer our help to the targeted girls so that they are helped and not run away from their entire lives,” says Stacy Adhiambo, who is now a first year university student.

Stacy also reveals that the group uses FGM champions to map out risky areas and access those in trouble in rural areas.

The Restorers will take home Ksh.2.5 million and a custom plaque in their honor at a ceremony to be held in Abuja, Nigeria on Wednesday 16, January.