Fatima Maada Bio, the first lady of Sierra Leone and current president of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (Oaflad), has declined to publicly condemn female genital mutilation (FGM), saying she will not take a position until she sees "reliable data" confirming the extent of harm caused by the practice in the country. Her stance has drawn a formal rebuke from more than 20 health professionals, human rights lawyers, and politicians — including a former UN expert and Sierra Leone's first minister of gender affairs — who wrote to Oaflad warning that her perceived support for FGM risks undermining years of regional and international advocacy. Sierra Leone, where an estimated 83% of women have undergone cutting and where no law criminalises the practice, was ordered last year by the Ecowas (West African regional bloc) court of justice to legislate against FGM, a ruling that President Julius Maada Bio has never publicly acknowledged.