Latest Information from Tostan

I received an update on FGM. This has made me very happy, as it is a step to the eradication of this practice. I have done a post on Tostan in my archives, for you to know more.

Tostan News Alert
January 14, 2008
909 Communities Make History
Thousands in Southeastern Senegal End Female Genital Cutting and Child Marriage in First-Ever Department-Wide Abandonment


Sunday, January 13, 2008
Tambacounda, Senegal

Building on a growing movement for health and human rights in West Africa, all 909 communities in the administrative department of Tambacounda in Southeastern Senegal have declared their abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

At an event hosted Sunday in the city of Tambacounda, invited guests from across Senegal and West Africa joined community members from throughout the department as they publicly declared their abandonment of these practices, marking the first time that an entire department has made such a declaration.

"From today forward, this practice no longer has a place in our communities," said Awa Traoré, who read the declaration to the audience of nearly 4,000 people.

100% of the communities in the department participated--a tremendous achievement in a region where recent estimates put the rate of FGC at 85.6% and the average age of marriage for girls at 15 years old.

Public declarations are one outcome of the Community Empowerment Program, an education program run by Tostan, a NGO which has worked with thousands of communities in Senegal since 1991. Tostan uses a participatory approach to education based on traditional methods of communication such as song, poetry, theater, and dance.

Beginning with a foundation of democracy and human rights, the program goes on to cover a wide range of subjects including problem solving, health and hygiene, math, management, literacy, and small projects.

Tostan's program is perhaps best-known for its long-term, patient, and respectful approach. Sunday's event in Tambacounda was six years in the making, building upon four prior public declarations in the department: Malème Niani (2001), Dialacoto (2003), Sinthiou Malème (2004), and Koutiaba (2006). The declaration welcomed 335 new communities, who joined 574 previously declaring communities in abandoning FGC and child/forced marriage.

The 2001 declaration at Malème Niani was itself based on prior declarations that date back to 1997, when 30 women in a community called Malicounda Bambara surprised Tostan and many others by announcing that they wanted to abandon the practice. Since Malicounda Bambara's seminal decision, 2,996 communities in Senegal have declared their abandonment of the practice.

Tostan representatives attribute the success of this movement to their approach, which addresses many different topics and invites people to join a positive movement for change to achieve their self-defined goals of health, peace and well-being.

Tostan also makes sure that communities are in charge of all activities. Of the 909 villages in attendance Sunday, only 116 were direct participants in Tostan's program. The rest were contacted by program participants during outreach activities organized and implemented by Community Management Committees created within each Tostan village.

Tostan leaders say this network-based approach is not only efficient, but essential to change. "When people come together at a public declaration, they are making a collective pledge to abandon FGC and child marriage. They are not only bringing an end to traditions which can be dangerous to the health of women and girls, but more importantly they are making a positive statement that they care about the health and human rights of their communities. " says Khalidou Sy, Program Director of Tostan Senegal.

It is also important that the events reach as many people as possible, Sy said. "Because FGC, in particular, is generally linked to marriage and social status, abandonment requires a collective decision by the whole intramarrying group. The public declaration offers a way for people to have that collective commitment. Without it, people are left to guess whether or not their neighbors in other communities are really committed."

Sunday's event, hosted in the city of Tambacounda, was a testament to Tostan's positive, collective approach. It began with a peaceful but lively march of thousands of people through the streets of this vibrant, dusty city. Accompanied by traditional musicians and dancers, the crowd marched along the main streets of the town, carrying hand-made signs, shouting - "Health and human rights for our daughters!"

Their route took them by the city hall, down the national highway, and into the Tambacounda soccer stadium, where they were greeted by hundreds more supporters. Once inside, representatives sent from each participating community were recognized for their commitment.
There were many moving moments during the ceremony, including speeches from regional and national authorities, adolescent leaders, traditional cutters, and representatives of the participating communities. The event also included traditional songs and theater, with perhaps the most touching moment coming from a play put on by a local group of adolescent girls, their tiny voices filling the stadium and reminding all present of the real reason for the declaration.

While at times joyous and celebratory, these events have serious consequences in the communities that participate. Recent evaluations have shown that the FGC abandonment movement is having a major impact on the rates of FGC in communities in Senegal. In fact, some communities showed 100% abandonment even 10 years later. The Tambacounda event is an integral part of Tostan's work towards achieving the total abandonment of FGC in Senegal by 2015, a goal shared by one of its most vital partners and donors in the region, UNICEF.

Yet Tostan Executive Director Molly Melching says that people should be careful to understand these declarations in context. "A public declaration does not necessarily mean that 100% of people in every participating village have stopped the practice," Melching said. "Some people may remain opposed to abandonment indefinitely. But what is important is that people see that FGC is no longer the norm--and that this practice is no longer required in order to be socially accepted. Once that transformation begins, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to continue the practice. As time passes, and as more and more people decide to abandon, it begins goes away completely."