Six African countries that have made significant progress in the fight against FGM

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, just two days before leaving office as the president of Liberia, issued an Executive Order seeking to protect women against domestic violence and abolishing female genital mutilation against girls below the age of 18.

This order, which has been greeted with much excitement from people in the country, particularly women, comes as other African countries make strides to end what many have described as a barbaric act.

A recent UN report pegged the number of victims of female genital mutilation around the world at 200 million.

Women and girls have had to live with the consequences of having their sexual organs forcibly mutilated. Many of them have since been suffering from fistula, maternal mortality, child mortality, infection from Aids and typhus, and post-traumatic stress.

However, behind that figure of about 200 million lies some progress: In nearly every country, the percentage of girls who have had the procedure has decreased.

And, all these achievements by the various African countries could not have been met without the support of NGOs, public officers, and other government actions.

Here are six African countries that have made progress so far to end the practice.