Tostan International Guidelines for Conducting Independent Research, Interviews, and Publication

Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program strategies have developed over the past twenty years through a dynamic process of action and reflection at the community level with participants, community leaders and Tostan staff. Research conducted by external evaluators and independent researchers has also contributed greatly to understanding the dynamics of social change at the local level, the results of the Tostan program on communities, and the areas where Tostan’s program needed further adaptation.

As part of its ongoing learning process, Tostan welcomes researchers affiliated to an institution of higher learning or organization to collaborate with its staff in many of its current eight countries in Africa [1] . Committed to action-research principles, Tostan seeks researchers who are committed to participatory research designs that will contribute academically rigorous analysis to the improvement of people’s everyday lives through Tostan’s work.

Tostan strongly encourages all persons interested in learning about Tostan’s work to review the resources posted on Tostan’s website prior to contacting the organization with questions or proposals.

Tostan is constantly revising its learning goals and seeking partners to better understand its current and potential impact on African communities. Some main areas of interest are:

Tostan feels a long-term commitment to the research process will lead to the fullest understanding of the Tostan program, the research country, its traditions and Tostan’s partner communities. Preference will be given to projects that last at least three months. A prospective researcher may consider applying to become a Tostan volunteer [2] for 6 months-1 year in order to facilitate access to the organization and field, while having sufficient enough time to understand the cultural and societal environment of the research sites, though Tostan recognizes this may not be an ideal fit for all researchers.

Tostan actively collaborates with researchers at various levels of academic research based at institutions of higher learning and research organizations in Africa, Europe and North America . Given Tostan’s limited resources, it cannot collaborate with all researchers and does not provide financial or logistical support to independent researchers.

For field research, priority is given to researchers pursuing a Ph.D. or equivalent with a well-developed research concept and methodology. Tostan also collaborates on original field research with Master’s Degree candidates. In rare cases, Tostan will consider supporting field research conducted by Bachelor’s Degree students. Students seeking affiliation through the Fulbright Program or other research-based program are encouraged to contact the department. Preference will be given to African researchers, people with prior experience living in Africa , and with a background in the development field.

For research projects, capstones, and senior projects requiring only a review of available literature and reports, Tostan will provide relevant information to requests made via email and may be able to schedule a telephone call of no more than one hour with the researcher.

Non-governmental agencies and research institutions seeking to conduct research as part of a larger intervention are also encouraged to contact the MERL Department Coordinator to exchange preliminary ideas.

Tostan recommends that all researchers seeking to be affiliated to Tostan for their research to review all available resources on the tostan.org prior to sending a request for affiliation. Researchers should contact Tostan no later than 45 days prior to deadlines relevant to their home institution to allow for sufficient time for feedback.

To acquire affiliation or a letter of support, the research candidate must send an email to the Department of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning of Tostan International with the following information:

Tostan is most interested in proposals that reflect the foll owing characteristics:

Following examination of the dossier, the MERL Department Coordinator will contact the researcher with additional questions and set up a time for a telephone conversation. If the proposal meets Tostan’s criteria, the MERL department will confirm Tostan’s interest by providing a letter of support or affiliation to the researcher. Tostan support letters are non-binding and may be withdrawn at any time during the research process (e.g. after further review of the research proposal, methods used in the field or the researcher’s actions).

Tostan’s affiliation requires IRB Human Subjects Review approval or equivalent non-US ethics board approval from the researcher’s university in all circumstances, even in cases where the research will not be published. Informed consent forms for all research subjects should be prepared in both French and English for Tostan’s records. Tostan recommends working with a translator to acquire verbal assent from research subjects in their national language (wolof, fula, etc). If possible, t he research instruments should also be in the language of the subject/participant. In certain cases, a translator might be required to assure that the participant/subject understands the general research purpose and its process and how the information will be disseminated. Tostan cannot pay for translators, but it might be able to assist researchers in identifying translators for national languages. Should you need such assistance, please include this information in your initial communication.

Affiliation with Tostan as a researcher does not constitute a financial engagement to the research project or engagement to make Tostan staff available to support the project given Tostan’s limited funds and human resources.

All research projects carried out through Tostan affiliation seeking publication must follow the above procedure. Throughout the relationship with the researcher, the MERL department will seek to understand publishing objectives and engage with the researcher to review the articles or chapter prior to publication to avoid factual errors and use of terminology. Copyright remains with the author and affiliated institution, and Tostan requests access to the material for organizational promotion and use.

Tostan’s program has been internationally recognized for its success in supporting communities to abandon female genital cutting (FGC), also known as excision, female circumcision and female genital mutilation. This has generated a high interest. In particular, international research institutions and donors have rigorously evaluated Tostan’s impact in this area. Any researcher interested in collaborating with Tostan on original research on FGC should first read these evaluations to deepen his or her knowledge on Tostan’s program. Among the key evaluation documents are:

1. Long-term evaluation of the Tostan program in

Senegal

: Kolda, Thiès and Fatick Regions (UNICEF and Population Council – September 2008) , PDF in English: http://www.childinfo.org/files/fgmc_tostan_eng.pdf

3. Askew, Ian . (2005.) "Methodological issues in measuring the impact of interventions against female genital cutting." Culture, Health and Sexuality 7(5): 463–477. ( abstract ) ( PDF )

4. Diop, Nafissatou J ., Modou Mbacke Faye, Amadou Morea, Jacqueline Cabral, Hélène Benga, Fatou Cissé, Babacar Mané, Inge Baumgarten, and Molly Melching. "The Tostan program: Evaluation of a community-based education program in

Senegal

," FRONTIERS Final Report. Washington , DC : Population Council. ( PDF )

5. Diop, Nafissatou J. , Djingri Ouoba, Zakari Congo, Molly Melching, Baya Banza, Georges Guiella, and Inge Baumgarten. "Experience from a community-based education program in

Burkina Faso

: The Tostan program," FRONTIERS Final Report . Washington , DC : Population Council. ( PDF )

A full list of Tostan and FGC references may be requested from the MERL Department .

Researchers interested in conducting original research on FGC in the field are urged to review all these documents and other existing literature prior to embarking on the project. Independent researchers seeking to study FGC are encouraged to consider the implications of FGC research, in particular the kinds of biases that will be introduced when a non-African outsider attempts to conduct research on such a sensitive topic.

Researchers still interested in conducting this type of research should contact the MERL Department Coordinator with the documents listed above along with a specific justification why this research will add value to the existing FGC literature and what steps will be taken to mitigate the biases introduced by a foreign researcher seeking information on harmful traditional practices. Tostan will give preference to researcher seeking to conduct original research at a Master’s level or above.

[1] Contact the MERL Coordinator for latest on security conditions in countries

[2] Review the Volunteer Program page of our website for information on volunteering.