The TOSTAN Program: Evaluation of a Community-Based Education Program in Senegal

Abstract

This operations research project evaluated the effect and impact of a basic education program, developed by TOSTAN, a non-governmental organization based at Thiès, Senegal. The basic education program consists of four modules: hygiene, problem solving, women’s health, and human rights. Through these four themes, emphasis was placed on enabling the participants, who were mostly women, to analyze their own situation more effectively and thus find the best solutions for themselves. The Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of Female Genital Cutting of GTZ funded implementation of the program in 90 villages in Kolda Region, and the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, with funding from USAID, used this opportunity to evaluate the program in 20 villages.