An innovative EU and UNICEF project has helped thousands of families, communities and countries to change attitudes and end harmful traditional practices like Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in Africa.

A release issued by EU in Brussels and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday ahead of International Women's Day on Thursday March 8, said as a result of education and awareness raising, girls in thousands of communities in Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal and Sudan were no longer subjected to this practice.

It said the project helped to raise awareness of the dangers of female genital mutilation/cutting, by encouraging large-scale community discussions and national debate on issues of human rights, as well as collective decision-making through extended social networks about gender norms.

The release said the method resulted in communities coming together for district-wide public declarations of the abandonment of these practices.

Across the five African countries, the EU/UNICEF project has implemented a common approach based on a comprehensive understanding of how to change social norms to bring about an end to harmful practices.

The project, implemented by UNICEF, received a total of 3,991,000 euros in EU funding over the period 2008-2012.

The release said in Senegal, where 28 per cent of women aged 15-49 had undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, astonishing progress had been made.

In just under a decade, over 5,300 communities have abandoned the practice, bringing the country close to becoming the first in the world to declare total abandonment, expected by 2015.

In Egypt, where 91 per cent of women are affected by the practice, the project has also made some progress, with female genital mutilation/cutting becoming less common amongst younger age groups.

The number of families signing up to the abandonment of the practice also increased substantially from 3,000 in 2007 to 17,772 in 2011.

In Ethiopia, despite high prevalence rates, the practice is similarly declining (between 2000 and 2005 rates dropped from 80 to 74 per cent.

In many African countries, female genital mutilation/cutting is a centuries-old custom, believed to make girls marriageable.

Estimates show that up to 140 million girls and women have undergone some form of female genital mutilation/cutting and are living with painful complications. Each year around three million girls – 8,000 a day – suffer the results of it.

“The practice occurs in African countries, and some countries in the Middle East and Asia. Girls are generally aged between five and 11 and most are cut without any medical supervision, but evidence shows the age at which girls are cut is decreasing,” the release added.

Andris Piebalgs, the Development Commissioner, welcomed the results and said "I find it totally unacceptable that in the 21st Century, this practice, which is a clear violation of human rights, is still taking place”.

"That is why I am so pleased that EU aid can help make a real difference. By raising awareness on the dangers of female genital mutilation/cutting at grassroots level, we have helped to provide young women across Africa with an alternative, as well as giving them the chance to become an active part of their own communities in the future."