Gamcotrap

Country: Gambia
Website: http://www.gamcotrap.gm

GAMCOTRAP, the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, was created in 1984 at the International Seminar on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children organized by the World Health Organization in Dakar, Senegal.

GAMCOTRAP is an apolitical, non-government, non-profit making organization.  The mission of GAMCOTRAP is to create awareness about traditional practices in the Gambia and aims for the preservation of beneficial practices as well as the elimination of all forms of harmful traditional practices.  GAMCOTRAP is committed to the promotion and protection of women and girl children’s political, social, sexual, reproductive health and educational rights.

GAMCOTRAP has been the leading women’s rights NGO in the Gambia working in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and children. Prominent among these is the campaign against harmful traditional practices affecting the health of women and children especially the girls. Among the harmful traditional practices affecting women, special emphasis is given to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS. This campaign is undertaken through advocacy and effective social mobilization at the grassroots level in various local languages.