Berhane Ras-Work (born c.1940) is an Ethiopian anti-FGM activist. She was the founding President of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC).[1]
Born Berhane Asfaw, into a Christian Ethiopian family, she attended a European-run primary school and at the age of fifteen went to boarding school in Addis Ababa. She gained a BA in education at the Jesuit University.[2] After marrying a US-trained engineer, Terrefe Ras-Work, she accompanied her husband to Geneva in 1970.[3] She gained a MA in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of Development Studies in Geneva.[4]
A television program "started her thinking" about female genital mutilation, and what could be done to raise consciousness and confront the issue.[3] In 1977 diplomats and activists living in Geneva founded the NGO Working Group on Traditional Practices Affecting the Heath of Women and Children. This was a precursor to the IAC, which was founded in 1984. Ras-Work was elected the first IAC President at the inaugural meeting in Dakar.[5]
In 1995 Berhane Ras-Work received the United Nations Population Award.[4] In 2010 she was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.[6]
