91 Villages in Wack Ngouna, Senegal Abandon FGC Thanks to the Power of Social Mobilization

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal.

In the village of Wack Ngouna, I watched as dust spiraled up from the quick steps of countless dancing feet.

Celebrating a collective decision which will effectively change the future for girls in Wack Ngouna, a district near Kaolack, Senegal, hundreds gathered to watch as representatives from 91 communities shared with the nation their decision to abandon female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage. 

As I listened to local dignitaries speak, sharing their enthusiasm for Tostan and for the future of women and girls in the surrounding communities, I realized the magnitude of this public declaration. While a much smaller event than the giant public declaration in Kolda last month during which 700 communities declared abandonment of FGC, this declaration was particularly powerful because none of the 91 declaring villages had taken part in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP), a 30-month, holistic education program teaching human rights, democracy, health, hygiene, and literacy, among other subjects. 

The villages of Wack Ngouna are proof of an incredible feat of community-led development: social mobilization. A group of five Community Management Committee (CMC) members – individuals who have been elected as leaders within their respective communities – was led by Tostan’s Ousmane Ndiaye and Marietou Diarrou, responsible for social mobilization in the Kaolack region. The team traveled from village to village, sharing knowledge they had gained from the Tostan program with other communities while encouraging village leaders to address issues of women’s rights and health. This  method of social mobilization allows shared knowledge to spread from one village to the next, creating a web of communities connected by the understanding that harmful traditional practices undermine the health and human rights of women and girls.

Skits performed by local youth during the celebration in Wack Ngouna illustrated their understanding of the negative effects of FGC and child marriage. One skit portrayed a 12 year old girl who was to be married to an older man in exchange for a dowry. But the girl stood up in protest saying, “the money that you put in your pocket today is the happiness that you take from me tomorrow.” She then convinced her father that she should continue her education so she could one day find a good job to help the family. 

Within the last two months alone, almost 800 villages have declared their abandonment of FGC and child/forced marriage thanks to the dedication of thousands across Senegal who, by sharing knowledge and discussing ideas learned through the Tostan program, are creating positive social change. The incredible movement continues. 

Photos by Sydney Skov and Verneva Ziga. Top- members of the performance group Alalaké. Middle- The social mobilization team in Kaolack. Below- local youth perform a skit which discussed the harmful consequences of FGC.   

Additional Communities in The Gambia begin the Community Empowerment Program and Take Development into Their Own Hands.

Story by Jana Shih, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal

I arrived in The Upper River Region (URR) three weeks ago.  As a member of Tostan International’s Monitoring and Evaluation Team, my role here has been to train local interviewers and oversee the assessment of 33 communities who are slated to begin Tostan’s holistic education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), in December. The 30-month CEP, which includes modules on human rights, democracy, health and hygiene, literacy and problem solving, will give communities the tools they need to make informed decisions about their own development. 

The Gambia is the smallest country on continental Africa with a population of around one million people and a land size roughly that of Jamaica. It is ranked 168 out of 182 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index, ranking it as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.  According to UNICEF (2009), 78% of The Gambia’s population practices female genital cutting and 36% of all marriages in the country are considered child or forced marriages.  Since 2006, Tostan has been working in partnership with the Gambian government to address these issues.  

During our training meetings, or “Community Situational Site Studies,” experienced Tostan supervisors interview community members about certain aspects of their village, such as infrastructure, health, education, economy, women’s empowerment, and relationships with other villages.  The Monitoring and Evaluation department will use this comprehensive baseline information when evaluating the community-wide impact of the Tostan program. 

To date, 80 communities in the URR—the the country’s poorest region—have taken part in the CEP.  This month, we will have the opportunity to celebrate alongside over 50 villages as they participate in the country’s second public declaration to collectively abandon child/forced marriage and FGC.

Photo by Katie Seward, Tostan Volunteer in The Gambia
 

700 Villages in Kolda, Senegal Declare Their Abandonment of FGC and Child/Forced Marriage

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal

Over 3,000 people gather in the school yard. Community Empowerment Program (CEP) participants, government officials and delegations from Guinea Bissau, The Gambia, and Mali, as well as representatives from 700 communities in the Kolda region of Senegal take their seats. I hurry to find a place in the shade of an enormous tree and sit, propped up by ancient roots. The crowd is a rainbow of color, spilling out onto the dusty ground, painting the day.

This event, complete with speeches, dances, and inspired musical performances, marks a historic change in the lives of thousands. In one of the largest public declarations the country has seen since the movement began in the village of Malicouda Bambara in 1997, communities declare their abandonment of harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage. Today, communities call for an end to practices that have undermined the rights of women and girls for centuries, and add their voices to the abandonment movement. A national action plan adopted by the Senegalese government looks to have the practice of FGC completely abandoned throughout the country by 2015; the thousands who have gathered today in a grand display of solidarity make it clear that this goal is within reach. 

50 young performers from local villages sing and dance for the crowd, expressing through song the harmful consequences of both FGC and child/forced marriage. Thanks to the CEP, Tostan’s 30-month human-rights based education program, communities come to understand the negative effects of certain social norms and are equipped to make their own decisions regarding change.

Tostan originally implemented the CEP in 23 villages in the Kolda region. Through impressive awareness raising activities conducted by each village’s Community Management Committee (CMC), a group of 17 elected leaders who handle everything from awareness raising activities to microcredit loans, 677 more villages learned about human rights and joined the movement to abandon FGC and child/forced marriage.
  

The declaration text is read to the gathered crowd in three languages: French, Mandinka, and Pulaar. Delegations from Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia have arrived to attend the event and show their support for Tostan and for the movement to abandon harmful practices.

As the celebration comes to a close, the feeling of excitement doesn’t fade. Dancers in traditional costumes create an atmosphere of gaiety as communities take pride in their heritage and in the human rights education that has led them to this momentous declaration day.

To read more about the public declaration, check out the article from AFP on the incredible Kolda declaration or read the report written by Tostan volunteer Caitlin Snyder.

Photos by Sydney Skov

Find more photos from the public declaration on Flickr!   

The Festivities Begin for the Public Declaration in Kolda, Senegal

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Voluteer in Dakar, Senegal 

November 27— Engulfed in a singing sea of people, we dance our way into the rural village of Tankanto Mauondé near the city of Kolda, Senegal. Voices celebrating education and human rights welcome our small delegation; Tostan staff and volunteers, including myself, have arrived to take part in an afternoon of cultural activities and celebrations preceding the department-wide public declaration scheduled for tomorrow. In the morning, thousands of people from local communities will add their voices to the international movement advocating for human rights by announcing to Senegal, to Africa, and to the world their commitment to abandon harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

Khady Baldé, the vivacious president of the Tankanto Mauondé women’s association, greets us and invites us to dance (above). 

The energy of the women is infectious, the happiness pervasive. High spirits are almost louder than the clacking calabashes, the high-pitched whistles, and the pounding drums.

Young girls hold up posters proclaiming No to Female Genital Cutting, [The Village of] Tankanto Welcomes Tostan, No to Child/Forced Marriage,The Community Thanks You for Everything.

Thanks to an understanding of human rights gained from Tostan’s 30-month, holistic education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), both men and women of the community have made the decision to abandon the practices of FGC and child/forced marriage. 

Harmful traditional practices not only undermine women’s rights, but often lead to devastating and even fatal health complications. A new generation of women and girls in this community, and in thousands of communities across Senegal, will have the opportunity to live free of the harmful effects of FGC.

Photos by Sydney Skov