Genital Mutilation & Sudan

The International Health Awareness Network’s interest in Sudan revolves around maternal health and the eradication of hazardous traditional practices on girls and women, such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

In partnership with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and with the invaluable support of the late Angela King of the United Nations, alongside the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh at the United Nations, we convened a full-day conference on the Elimination of Violence against Women at the United Nations Secretariat in New York in the early 1990s.

Following this conference, Dr. Roshan was invited by the President of the International Council of Women to speak at the World Health Organization (WHO), on the medical complications of FGM and the imperative of global abandonment of this harmful practice. This practice offers no health benefits and instead inflicts profound physical, mental, and sexual harm upon women and girls. It is a flagrant violation of human rights, perpetuating gender inequality, and subjecting innocent children to unspeakable suffering. In the years that followed, Dr. Roshan, on behalf of IHAN, embarked on journeys to Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somaliland, steadfast in her commitment to eradicate this abhorrent practice.