The Tostan program: Evaluation of a community based education program in Senegal

This operations research project evaluated the effect and impact of a basic education program, developed by TOSTAN, a nongovernmental organization based at Thiès, Senegal. The basic education program consisted of four modules: hygiene, problem-solving, women’s health, and human rights. Through these four themes, emphasis was placed on enabling the participants, who were mostly women, to analyze their own situation more effectively and thus find the best solutions for themselves. The GTZ Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of Female Genital Cutting funded implementation of the program in 90 villages in Kolda Region, and the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, with funding from USAID, used this opportunity to evaluate the program in 20 villages. The program was able to bring about a social change within the community and to mobilize the villagers for better environmental hygiene, and respect for human rights and improvement of health, as well as specifically reducing support for and practice of FGC