Tostan participates in the Community for Understanding Scale Up (CUSP), a global coalition of NGOs known for their impact in social norms change, violence prevention and women's empowerment. Other coalition members include: the Salamander Trust; Puntos de Encuentro;...

Our Annual Report for 2017 is now available online, in English. In the report, we are delighted to share with you some highlights of the amazing achievements made by our partner communities in 2017, through the Community Empowerment Program and adapted programs. You...

During his 24 year career at Tostan, Dame Guèye has grown from being a field-based Facilitator in Senegal, to being recently appointed Senior Programme Manager at Tostan International, Dakar. Facing inevitable challenges along the way, Dame has also benefited from...

On 12th May 2018, representatives from USAID, Partners Global, Tostan, Plateforme des Femmes pour la Paix en Casamance (PFPC), Partners West Africa and regional officials proudly launched the project ‘USAID UNAAM KAYRAAY’, or ‘Engaging Civil Society for Peace in the...

On International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, Tostan Shares What Works Over the past few years, Tostan has enabled hundreds of women suffering from fistula to receive medical treatment at UNFPA fistula repair camps by covering some of the essential expenses involved...

For the third consecutive year, Tostan has earned a 4-star rating with Charity Navigator, the leading nonprofit evaluator in America. This is the highest rating possible! Attaining a 4-star rating indicates that Tostan adheres to sector best practices and executes its...

What is your background?  I am an Italian national. I left Italy when I was 22 to get my Master's from the Science Po graduate school in Paris. I had always been interested in the world outside of Italy and I seized any possible opportunity to meet people from...

Tostan has signaled its support of the Sustainable Development Goals through our commitment to Every Woman Every Child, the UN's global movement to mobilize governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and civil society in pursuit of the health of all...

Relaxed discussion, popular songs blasting from speakers, a cheerful atmosphere in a sea of matching outfits: my first impressions of the place I had just entered did not align with the perceptions I held about prisons. It was International Women’s Day, at La Maison...

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the incredible ways women across Mali have applied their new knowledge and skills learned during the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) to fit their unique lives. Overcoming discrimination and finding one’s voice “I...

In honor of World Radio Day, here’s a look at how Tostan partner communities use radio programs as an effective way to spread knowledge about human rights and other important issues. One of the main factors for success is that the shows are for the community, by the...

February 6 was International FGC Abandonment Day. We are proud to support the 8000+ communities across eight countries who have publicly declared to abandon FGC. The following graphics celebrate the 358 communities who declared to abandon FGC and other harmful...

With efforts from the Empowered Community Network, 262 solar batteries were distributed with support from the Ed Nef Foundation to 150 households in Keur Simbara, Kobongoye and Soudiane. These three Senegalese communities have completed the Community Empowerment...

In West African communities, oral tradition is the norm. Knowing how to read and write depends on formal schooling, which is inaccessible to many citizens.  In Guinea-Bissau, the literacy rate is around 55% (45% for women) and even lower in rural areas where Tostan...

In August, two Tostan training alumni, Asmau Ayub and Mohammed Andani Hussein, returned to the Tostan Training Center (TTC) for an 11-day workshop on Tostan’s human rights-based approach to community-led development, held in collaboration with the Carter Center. They...