News & Stories from the Field
Shifting social norms in southwest Ethiopia: What Lale learned at the Tostan Training Center
“My experience at the Tostan Training Center was extremely insightful,” says Lale Labuko, “and greatly impacted my way of thinking and leading, as well as the course of action at Omo Hope. It helped me to see a different approach to solving our current challenges....
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Community comes together to support young Hawa’s education
Hawa is a 14-year-old girl from Sare Mamudou, one of the 30 communities undergoing Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in the Gambia. She is an exemplary student who ranked first of her 6th grade class in early 2019. Hawa’s father passed away when she was in...
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Empowered CMC leads the way to sustainable health for women and children in Song Kunda!
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This African proverb is ever so fitting to Song Kunda, a remote village located in the Upper River Region, Kantora District, and one of the first villages in the Gambia to participate in...
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Tostan awarded 4-star rating by Charity Navigator in 2019
Tostan has attained a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. This is the highest possible rating from the leading nonprofit evaluator in America. It indicates that...
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Tostan joins Melinda Gates’ Moment of Lift: Scaling Wellbeing for Women and Girls in Three Countries
For media enquiries, please contact SuzanneBowles@Tostan.org In her much awaited first ever book “The Moment of Lift,” Melinda Gates identifies Tostan Founder, Molly Melching, as a quiet hero and one of her teachers. She credits her with imparting the...
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Walk On My Own: A film about how Tostan sparks profound, positive changes for women and girls premieres during the UN Commission on the Status of Women
On screen, a 13-year-old girl is singing and dancing, her eyes bright with laughter. Microphone clipped to the back of her dress, she picks up her video camera and moves through her village to the next location for the film she is making. In the audience, now...
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Ndeye Fatou’s Story: Walk On My Own
Create your own Circle of Change Invite your friends and family into a conversation around Walk On My Own using our party and discussion kit. It includes: An invitation from Tostan’s Founder and Creative Director, Molly Melching Context about Walk on My Own and Tostan...
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Religious Leaders at the Forefront of Social Transformation
Since 1991, Tostan has engaged local religious leaders in supporting communities’ efforts to end violence against girls and women and create a new vision for wellbeing. These partnerships are one of many strategies in a deep and growing movement leading to positive...
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Peace and Security project in The Gambia: Mamadou’s Story
Since May 2018, Tostan has been implementing the Peace and Security Project in 40 communities in the border zone covering The Gambia, southern Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. These 40 communities have previously taken part in the Community Empowerment Program. This project...
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Kenya’s First Public Declaration Led by Tostan Training Center Participants
On February 6, 2019, a public declaration for the abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) within the Masai community was held in Olmesutie, Loita Division in Narok County, Kenya. Over 3,000 people took part in the declaration which was the result of...
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Dieynaba Kane, former cutter turned advocate for abandonment of FGC
Dieynaba Kane is a vocal advocate for the abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC), a practice whose painful consequences she knows better than most, having undergone it herself and having, by her own count, performed it on at least 100 girls over a period of...
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The human rights movement is rising in Mali: 141 communities publicly declare abandonment of harmful practices in Koulikoro
On 29 November 2018, representatives of 141 communities gathered in Koulikoro, Mali, to publicly declare their decision to abandon the age-old practices of female genital cutting (FGC) and child marriage. The ceremony was presided over by the Minister for the...
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New Leaders of the Breakthrough Generation
Discover the impact of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program on a new generation of young women and girls: Women who speak up and build their future with confidence; A new generation of leaders coming into their own.
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30 communities in southern Senegal declare abandonment of female genital cutting and child marriage, following the Tostan program
A real breakthrough in a conservative region 30 communities in the commune of Linkering, in the Kolda region of southern Senegal, came together on Sunday, November 25, 2018, to publicly declare abandonment of harmful traditional practices, and show their commitment to...
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Tostan Sweden represented at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights
At this year’s edition of the Swedish Forum for Human Rights - the largest forum for human rights in Scandinavia - eight volunteers from Tostan Sweden pitched in to represent Tostan. One of the volunteers, Jonatan Arblom Sundblad, here reports on the successes of the...
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162 communities join the movement for abandonment of FGC and child marriage in Senegal
On Sunday 11 November 2018, a historic event was held in Goumbayel, in the region of Tambacounda, Senegal. 162 communities from the Bala, Koulor and Diankémakha districts - made up of Mandé, Pulaar, Soninké and Wolof ethnic groups - came together to publicly declare...
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Mayor Khalidou Sy honored with Local Leadership Excellence Award in Senegal
Tostan former National Coordinator for Senegal and member of our staff for 25 years, Khalidou Sy, was honored on Friday November 9, 2018, as one of the best mayors in Senegal at the Local Leadership Excellence Award Ceremony. He was selected out of 557 Local District...
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Choosing a World Free from Female Genital Cutting: Aissata’s True Story
This is the true story of Aissata, who was was cut when she was seven years old. Like many girls and women all over the world, she experienced the often devastating consequences of female genital cutting (FGC). Years after undergoing the practice, Aissata's community...
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Women Leaders on the Rise in The Gambia
A cycle of empowerment and leadership is rising in West Africa - and it is led by women. Read on to learn more about the inspiring women leading with dignity in The Gambia, thanks to the confidence they gained through Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program. In 2017,...
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On the ‘CUSP’ of scale: Tostan proud to participate in the ‘Community for Understanding Scale Up’
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;...
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