The Community Empowerment Program

The Community Empowerment Program (CEP) is a three-year nonformal education and community-led development program. The CEP is currently offered in 22 languages in six African countries: Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and The Gambia.

CEP participants represent the women, and many are themselves Tostan also facilitates collaboration community at large, including women graduates of the program. The model between CMCs and other NGOs or and men, girls and boys, elders and requires that each participating local governments with the aim of youth, and various ethnic groups and village provide housing, food, and procuring funding or technical support social strata. Most have never been basic support for the facilitator, who for community projects. CMCs that to formal school, or dropped out at an establishes a long-term presence and have proven successful in planning, early age. becomes part of the fabric of daily life. implementing, and evaluating community projects are equipped with There are three key components There are two phases to the community small community development grants of the Community Empowerment classes. The Kobi (“to prepare the to support micro-enterprises and Program: field for planting”) focuses on social community-managed social enterprises 1. Community Classes: Building a empowerment. The Aawde phase (“to such as mills and communal gardens, foundation of knowledge plant the seed”) is concerned with or fund community projects, such as When Tostan is invited into a village, two literacy and economic empowerment. constructing schools or latrines. In classes are set up: one for adults and addition to their work during the course the other for adolescents. Community 2. Community Management of the CEP, CMCs continue to operate members select 25 to 30 participants Committees: Creating democratic after the CEP ends. They are essential for each class. Implementing management skills for sustaining program outcomes. the program for both adults and Tostan trains local Community adolescents in the same community Management Committees (CMCs) 3. Organized Diffusion: Accelerating improves inter-generational dialogue to apply the knowledge and skills social transformation and ensures that youth have the skills from community class sessions and Tostan implements a strategy to needed to participate in and sustain to build capacity for community-led foster the spread of knowledge and community development. The classes development. CMCs are comprised of information beyond the classroom typically meet three times a week for 17 democratically-selected members of and accelerate large-scale positive two to three hours each time. whom at least nine are women. Some social change. This strategy, called of their activities include encouraging organized diffusion, encourages Classes are taught by a Tostan residents to register to vote, organizing participants to use their existing social facilitator, who lives with the community village clean-ups, and working with networks as organic channels to spread and is often from a nearby village. local health officials on vaccination and reinforce learning and social Facilitators are the backbone of the campaigns. transformation within and between Tostan program. Over 80 percent are communities. Program participants commit to To accelerate movements for positive members. Local radio programs, adopting at least one other learner, change, Tostan concentrates its broadcast in national languages, but they often teach several neighbors program in interconnected networks accelerate the spread of information and relatives in their community and of villages that share similar customs from village to village. in surrounding villages. Participating and engage in regular dialogue. Tostan communities also adopt other villages strategically selects seven to ten to share knowledge and skills and to communities that are interconnected plan awareness-raising campaigns. through family ties, use of the same well In inter-village meetings, participants or market, or shared affiliation with a discuss controversial issues with particular religious leader in the area. hundreds of men, women, and Ideas percolate throughout these adolescents, including religious and villages, and then to more distant traditional leaders. communities, even to diaspora