Global Research and Advocacy Group (GRAG)

This operations research project evaluated the effect and impact of a basic education program, developed by TOSTAN, a non-governmental organization based at Thiès, Senegal. The basic education program consists of four modules: hygiene, problem solving, women’s health, and human rights. Through these four themes, emphasis was placed on enabling the participants, who were mostly women, to analyze their own situation more effectively and thus find the best solutions for themselves.

Cette recherche opérationnelle a été menée pour évaluer l'impact d'un programme de renforcement des capacités villageoises conçu et mis en oeuvre par TOSTAN dans la région de Kolda. TOSTAN est une organisation non gouvernementale basée à Thiès (Sénégal), dont le programme d’éducation est composé de quatre modules : l’hygiène, la résolution des problèmes, la santé et les droits humains.

Depuis 2001, le Groupe de travail des donateurs sur l’E/MGF regroupe d’importantes organisations gouvernementales, intergouvernementales et fondations engagées en faveur de l’abandon de l’E/MGF. Grâce aux échanges d’expériences et à leur analyse systématique, nous sommes parvenus à un consensus sur une approche programmatique commune pour appuyer l’abandon de cette pratique et changer substantiellement la vie des filles et des femmes à travers le monde. Cette plateforme d’action en résume les éléments constitutifs. Avec un appui relativement modeste et en élargissant les partenariats visant à appliquer cette approche, il est possible de réduire de manière significative l’E/MGF au cours de la décennie à venir.

Programming for protection and development should engage populations as actors in their own development. UNICEF’s approach to child protection - building a protective environment for children - recognizes the importance of the capacities of children and their caregivers, as well as the significance of open dialogue to promote change within communities. Evaluating such approaches, including a hard look at quantitative outcomes, has often proved challenging.

FGM consists of all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons.1 It is common in several countries, predominantly in Africa, and more than 100 million women and girls are estimated to have had FGM worldwide. Whether obstetric outcomes differ between women who have and those who have not had FGM is unclear, since previous studies have been small and methodologically limited, so have been unable to provide reliable evidence, especially in relation to important outcomes, such as perinatal death.2–6 The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different types of FGM on a range of maternal and neonatal outcomes during and immediately after delivery.