Empowering Communities to lead their own development
We believe in education that empowers communities to drive positive social change across generations.
people participated directly in Tostan’s education program
people reached through awareness raising activities led by communities
lives impacted through improved livelihoods, greater gender equality, and social cohesion
Leadership program for young community leaders in Senegal:
Cheikh Anta Diop Fellowship for Community Empowering Education
Duration: Six months | Application deadline: December 31, 2025.
Join TOSTAN communities across West Africa as they lead change from within
Together for Dignity: 16 Days to End Gender Based Violence
Theme: Digital Violence Against Women and Girls
Public declaration to abandon female genital cutting and child marriage in Matam, Senegal
November 29, 2025 | Loumbi Sanarabe – Orefonde.
Areas of Impact
Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program supports communities as they set and lead their own priorities for wellbeing.
Good Governance
Communities practice inclusive leadership, build transparent structures, and strengthen trust in decision-making.
Social Transformation
Communities reshape social norms, rebuild trust, and lead collective action to prevent conflict and violence.
Human Development
Communities turn learning into action by improving health, expanding education, advancing economic opportunities, and caring for the environment.
Inclusive Leadership
30K+
Women have been selected for leadership positions in their communities, with many running for public office
Social Cohesion
50K+
Community leaders strengthened peace, equity, and inclusion through collective visioning and action
Economic Development
81,326
New livelihoods created through Tostan’s Community Development Grants
Training Program
Tostan’s training program is designed for participatory sharing and mutual learning. Organizations, government and religious leaders, and philanthropists gain practical understanding on what makes the Tostan model effective, and explore application of its principles in their own contexts.
Transforming Stories
Sheriff Abba Sanyang
Governor of the Central River Region in The Gambia, 2021
“I have never seen such an impactful program intervention. It is transforming people’s understanding of critical issues affecting their lives and empowering them to mobilize and initiate actions to solve them. Communities are now approaching different government service sectors to share their needs. Tostan’s program is building the capacity of people to rethink what they previously believed was impossible.”
Hillary Clinton
U.S. presidential candidate, former Senator, Secretary of State, First Lady, 2016
“Tostan’s approach succeeds because of its deep respect for the people it serves. (…) What most impressed me when I met the women in this program is the confidence they demonstrate while discussing the profound changes they have made in their communities, based on their application of human rights and responsibilities. The Tostan experience has renewed my faith in education as the key to achieving positive social transformation and poverty reduction around the world.”
Hawa Diao
Program Participant in Saré Niyel (Senegal), 2025
“Just before Tostan came to our village, I had decided to give my daughter in marriage without her consent, but when I attended the Tostan class on human rights education, I automatically changed my mind. I now understand that she has the right to choose her husband.”
Jimmy Carter
Former U.S. president, 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
“The story of Molly Melching and Tostan proves that determined and loving individuals can accomplish the seemingly impossible - abandonment of a harmful tradition that is thousands of years old.”
Ibrahima Seydi
Tostan Program Participant in Thiarape (Senegal), 2025
“The Tostan CEP has completely changed our village. By learning about human rights, our population has changed its behavior and mentality. The members of the CMC as well as the participants make sure that the children no longer play in the rain as before; this has reduced the number of childhood illnesses in the village during the rainy season.”
Amartya Sen
Economist & recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
“Humanitarian intervention demands not only hard work but also originality of vision. It would be hard to match Tostan... in the quality of innovative thinking it has brought to its dedicated work, against seemingly impossible odds. There are many great things about Tostan and its leadership but the most important is (its) freshness of approach and ability to think differently.”
Sandie Okoro
Senior Vice-President and General Counsel for the World Bank Group
“Tostan uses an integrated, holistic approach of informal education to empower communities by teaching them about vision and values, democracy, human rights and responsibilities, problem-solving, hygiene and health. Tostan’s longer term approach offers opportunities for community members to consider alternative aspirations and norms.”
Muhammad Yunus
Nobel Peace Prize winner, 2008
“If Tostan's model can spread beyond Senegal to countries that are more difficult to work in, this could change Africa.”
