Long-term Evaluation of the Tostan Programme in Senegal: Kolda, Thiès and Fatick regions

The main objective of the evaluation was to assess the impact of the Tostan programme on the prevalence rate of female genital cutting among girls, their age at first marriage, and improvements to the health status of mothers and children. In its qualitative component, the evaluation aimed to examine Tostan’s establishment process in the villages, to understand how villages organized their participation in the public declarations, and to learn women’s opinions about the impact of the programme. This report presents the broad outline and most salient conclusions of the evaluation. 

The quantitative component of the long-term evaluation of the Tostan programme was conducted in 2006 by the Center for Research in Human Development (CRHD) in the rural areas of the Kolda, Thiès and Fatick regions. The qualitative assessment of the Tostan programme was conducted by the Population Council staff in Dakar. In conducting the quantitative component, the CRHD utilized the technical assistance of Macro International Inc. through the international Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) programme.

Appropriate guidelines for evaluating the impact of the Tostan programme were defined in agreement with the various stakeholders. Evaluations focused on the levels and trends of early marriage and the practice of female circumcision; knowledge and behavior patterns in the area of health; knowledge of Tostan and its programme; participation in a public declaration; and participation by community members in a Tostan programme and an assessment of the benefits derived from it. The survey focused on a sample of women who ranged in age from 15 to 49. They come from 53 rural villages in the regions of Fatick, Kolda and Thiès, where circumcisions have been common practice.