Theory of Change
How does Tostan’s approach foster social transformation that leads to lasting community-driven improvements in wellbeing?
Tostan’s African-inspired empowering education program equips communities with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to envision and achieve a thriving future. By sharing the approach with the broader development ecosystem, Tostan catalyzes a global movement for community wellbeing and sustainable development.
Problem
In many rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa, long-standing social norms influence daily life and restrict opportunities, particularly for women and other marginalized groups. They uphold confining roles and perpetuate constraints on identity, capacity to aspire, voice, and agency. This is compounded by limited opportunities to develop knowledge and skills and to apply them to improve wellbeing. Traditional and formal governance systems at the local level are evolving, but they do not yet provide inclusive platforms for decision-making and they lack skills and resources. Access to quality education, healthcare, and economic opportunities is constrained, and children, youth and adults all face major challenges.
Conventional development efforts that provide resources from the outside-in often miss a critical pathway to real change: supporting communities to address the social and institutional factors that shape daily life. Without this, positive outcomes are difficult to sustain over time.
How change happens
If you plant seeds without first turning the soil, they may blow away or fail to grow. But by turning the soil first—revealing the life and nutrients already present—the seeds can take root. With a little water and care, they draw what they need to thrive.
Tostan’s approach mirrors this process. Communities are supported to explore their own strengths, knowledge, and values through participatory human rights education, creating fertile ground for change. From this foundation, they build skills, confidence, and collective vision to transform social norms, strengthen leadership, and foster inclusive, peaceful, and equitable communities.
As communities grow and lead, they engage with networks of local, national, and global partners. They collaborate in efforts that further improve health, education, economic opportunity, and environmental well-being. The approach leads to lasting, locally driven impact.
Beyond the work with communities and local governments, Tostan shares this approach with national, regional, and global partners, fostering a movement that supports community-led development at scale. This ecosystem-wide alignment ensures that resources and strategies are directed toward equitable and sustainable development, benefiting millions and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.