Memorandum of Agreements (MoA) were concluded with traditional authorities in 2011 with the assistance of MSWGCA and NGOs that state that no traditional birth attendant in communities should initiate a child below the age of 18 years nor force anyone who has attained that age to undergo the procedure without her consent. The MOAs in turn led to the development of an action plan by traditional authorities and birth attendants, including awareness raising at community level. Women, especially the Soweis are now beginning to see, not only the harmful face of FGM/C but also its relationship with contagious diseases including HIV/AIDs. Inter-generational Dialogue training with over 20 organizations has begun opening up discussions related to FGM/ C among the different generations and with men and women. Training of committee members of Child Welfare Committee (which include a Sowei representative) on Child Rights in 102 out of 149 chiefdoms is beginning to challenge the mainstream norm that all women should be cut. On a national scale, the various initiatives are making a positive impact. Whilst the prevalence of the practice is high, it has reduced since 2005 when it was 96 percent (Statistics Sierra Leone, 2006). They are having an even greater impact on levels of acceptance and beliefs in the benefit of the practice. These have declined consistently over the last three decades, and at a faster rate than the decline in the practice itself. In 2012, barely 50 percent of younger girls believe in the value of the practice (Mathers, 2012). 46. The preceding discussion provides insight into the challenges faced by the GoSL in finding effective, lasting and sustainable solutions to harmful customary practices which are held in high regard by the majority of its people. Whilst MOAs and community-based advocacy initiatives have proven successful, they are by their nature limited in their reach and impact. National legislation which binds all communities equally is a more systemic approach to the issue. However, the legislative approach is unlikely to succeed where the laws in question lack credibility and are not accepted in the affected communities. This is a key reason underlying the limited movement to prohibit harmful practices such as FGM/C and others such as child labour and corporal punishment by the Child Rights Act. The Child Rights Act is largely considered to be a western construct and lacks credibility and acceptance at a community-level in Sierra Leone. This in turn is one of the key reasons for the numerous challenges experienced in the implementation of the act (Child Frontiers Limited, 2010). 47. The GoSL recently engaged in a process of reflection to assess the status and efficiency of, and challenges within its national child welfare system impacting negatively on the implementation of laws such as the Child Rights Act. Through that process it recognized that the current governing child welfare legal and regulatory framework has been shaped by its history, including its colonial past and civil war. The has led to the development of a system that is out of sync with modern social, economic and customary realities in Sierra Leone; a disjuncture which has contributed to the inefficiency and inefficacy of the child protection system. Notably, the system has been developed based on an outdated British model of child welfare that depends on highly bureaucratized child protection structures which are out of sync with Sierra Leone’s financial and human resources. Furthermore, the system is based on a 2. General Measures of Implementation  19