Tostan [to 2 January 2016]
http://www.tostan.org/latest-news

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December 30, 2015
Promoting Human Rights and Gender Equality: 189 Communities in Tambacounda and the Next Generation at the Helm
Who is responsible for promoting gender equality and human rights in a community or a region? Building on the bold actions of their parents, and 25 years of grassroots social change, new youth leaders are emerging in rural Africa to carry this mantle.

On December 6th, 189 villages of the Goudiry and Bakel departments in the Tambacounda region of Senegal joined more than 7,000 other communities across Africa with a public declaration to promote human rights and gender equality by ending female genital cutting, child marriage and domestic violence. Hundreds of people from Pulaar, Mandinke and Soninke communities attended. This important decision was made after 55 communities received Tostan’s human rights-based educational program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP). As a part of their process of spreading human rights education, people of all ages from the 55 communities reached out to many of their neighbors; sharing what they had learned and encouraging dialogue…