N'Guerigne Bambara or Nguerigne Bambara or Nguering is a small village in the
Thiès Region
Thiès is a region of western Senegal. The capital is also called Thiès.
Geography
Thiès has two coastlines, one in the north with the Grande Côte housing the Niayes vegetable market, one to the south with the Petite Côte, one of the tourist ...
in
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
.
[The village is on the eastern side of the country 70 km from the capital ]Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
Google maps
Retrieved 2 September 2015 The village is known internationally because of its early decision to renounce
Female Genital Cutting
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
.
Description
Nguerigne Bambara is small settlement with a Grand Mosque near the coastal town of
Ngaparou
Ngaparou (or N'gaparu) is a coastal town with commune status in western Senegal (about 75 km south of Dakar), located in M'Bour Department and Thiès Region on the Petite Côte, near Saly. It is adjacent to the town of Somone and it shares ...
.
[ There is a hotel.Lodge Parazar]
Retrieved 2 September 2015
In 1997 the village of
Malicounda Bambara
Malicounda Bambara is a village (pop. 1,555) in the M'bour Department of the Thiès Region in western Senegal, located approximately 85 km from the Senegalese capital of Dakar. Founded in 1902 by migrants from neighboring Mali in search of ...
was the first to decide to unilaterally decide to stop female genital cutting. The decision had arisen spontaneously following a development course by the charity
Tostan
Tostan (meaning "breakthrough" in Wolof) is a US-registered 501(c)(3) international non-governmental organization headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. The organization's mission is "to empower communities to develop and achieve their vision for the f ...
. People from N'Guerigne Bambara had been on the same course and they decided to follow the other villages example
on 6 November 1997. Later that month the President of Senegal spoke in support of Malicounda's initiative. The third village might have been
Keur Simbara, but
Demba Diawara
Demba Diawara (born c. 1931) is an imam and village leader of Keur Simbara in Senegal. He is known for his leadership in encouraging village communities to abandon the tradition of female genital cutting. He knew of the first declarations at the S ...
who was an imam there decided that he would persuade other villages in the social group to make the change too. He spent months persuading other villages to join Malicounda Bambara, N'Guerigne Bambara and Keur Simbara and this led to a combined announcement at
Diabougou. Keur Simbara has received Ministers from other countries and its representatives were praised by their own President and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
.
References
{{Reflist, 2
Populated places in Thiès Region