By Huda Syyed
From volunteering to an Advocacy Intern
I have always valued my time at Sahiyo because it has given me a space to engage in meaningful community work, connect with people across continents, and exchange ideas and resources with others committed to ending female genital cutting (FGC). My experience as a volunteer was so rewarding that I was excited to start my journey as an Advocacy Intern. This internship gave me the opportunity to contribute my own knowledge and experiences while continually learning from perspectives across regions and the expertise of survivors.
Most of my research and advocacy work focuses on FGC, and I have spent the past decade working on themes of silence, power, gender, community, and ethical dilemmas when navigating fieldwork. Still, one of the most important lessons of my internship was learning that researching FGC does not mean there is ever a point at which one has finished learning how to engage with the issue. This internship strengthened my understanding of advocacy and showed me how important it is for researchers, social workers, advocates, legal professionals, and public health professionals to work together.
United Nations CSW71 and Women Deliver 2026: Connecting across continents and countries
As an advocacy intern, I attended and spoke at events such as the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 70 (CSW70) in New York and Women Deliver in Melbourne. Some of this work happened publicly, through events and conversations and moderation of events, while much of it took place behind the scenes. This included preparation of materials, coordinating speakers, helping with developing resources, supporting event logistics, contributing to advocacy documents and thinking carefully about how information is communicated. Working alongside Mariya, Nuzhat and Olivia taught me the importance of organisation, clear communication and coordination in keeping advocacy work moving behind the scenes. I gained a better understanding of the administrative work involved in planning events, managing timelines, coordinating speakers and ensuring that different pieces of a project came together smoothly. I was grateful to not only see the hard work behind the scenes, but to be a part of it this year.
Early in the internship, I supported Sahiyo’s parallel event at the CSW70, including preparations connected with the session Dismantling Racism in Anti-FGM/C Movements. This provided an important opportunity to hear speakers reflect on intersectionality and to deepen conversations about the value of survivor expertise in shaping anti-FGM/C advocacy. It reinforced the idea that survivors are knowledge holders whose experiences and perspectives should inform how movements understand harm, power, and meaningful change.
At Women Deliver 2026 in Melbourne (Naarm), I moderated a panel session at the event, Dismantling Racism in Anti-FGM/C Movements: Path to Decolonial, Survivor-Led Advocacy, co-hosted by Sahiyo, the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C and The Girl Generation. I had the honour of facilitating a powerful discussion with Dr Leyla Hussein, Basmmala Morkaz, and Warda Warsame. The conversation highlighted how racism, anti-Blackness, colonial narratives, and racial hierarchies continue to shape advocacy spaces within the movement. It challenged us to think critically about who occupies space within advocacy, research, funding, and policy settings. For me, it reinforced that meaningful solidarity requires more than making space for survivors; it requires recognising survivor voices, expertise, and knowledge as central to leadership and decision-making. These reflections also shaped how I approached my wider work on survivor-centred and decolonial advocacy throughout the internship and future work.
The beauty of this experience was connecting across continents, countries, and advocates from all over the world. To witness such dialogue and future planning was a powerful and unforgettable experience.
Reinforcing existing ideas and ethics
My work focuses on being a human being, researcher, listener and learner. It has been an ongoing journey, and my time as an advocacy intern at Sahiyo reinforced this approach. In institutional and academic spaces, expertise is often attached to qualifications, publications, professional positions or organisational authority. These forms of knowledge have value. But they are not the only forms of expertise. They also overlook the significant knowledge production, dissemination and problem-solving approaches proposed and actioned by survivors. Working alongside Sahiyo this year, I learned that survivor leadership is the answer to ending FGC and achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 5.3.
My experience at Sahiyo reinforced existing ideas that I have explored in my work:
· Researchers and organisations must be careful not to extract from survivors and communities.
· Survivor perspectives must be treated as forms of knowledge and not just data that furthers a research project.
· Power dynamics must be openly discussed and understood through reflexivity, positionality, researcher accountability, and ethics that may exist beyond the ethics board.
Research Webinar: How to conduct ethical research
I had the opportunity to explore many research-related questions through Sahiyo’s webinar, How to Conduct Ethical Research on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, which I moderated in August. It was an honour to moderate the panel with speakers Sean Callaghan, Dr Osman Mahmoudi, Dr Shobana Powell, and Dr Karen A. McDonnell. Their reflections brought together diverse perspectives on research, public health, ethics, care, social work, and therapeutic efforts. This was also a great way of connecting with early and mid-career researchers and discussing the challenges and complexities of approaching sensitive topics like FGM/C in varying contexts.
In my work, I have emphasised the importance of approaching FGC with context, care and compassion, especially in precarious settings where it is challenging to have conversations. The webinar allowed me to briefly share aspects of my own research and to discuss what I have come to think of as a more contextual and compassionate methodology at the start of the webinar. Sahiyo creates space for interns and volunteers to use their own work to further much-needed dialogue and social change. This creates a sense of togetherness and solidarity within the advocacy and research community.
What I am taking forward
My Sahiyo internship has strengthened my commitment to ending FGM/C and has made me increasingly attentive to the difference between visibility and power and who is involved in policymaking and leadership.
My internship has ended, but my relationship with Sahiyo continues as a Global Ambassador. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to carry forward new advocacy skills, meaningful connections, and professional experiences.
For me, this means continuing to research, advocate, listen, learn, and unlearn. The purpose of creating space is not simply to invite people into it, but to ensure that they have the power to shape what happens there.
What I find most beautiful and impactful about Sahiyo is the way it creates space for people to contribute, listens to their perspectives, and genuinely values the work of its volunteers and interns. There is a strong sense of togetherness in the organisation, with people encouraged to learn, contribute and grow alongside one another.
