Community Empowerment Program

Summary

When Tostan is invited into a village to begin the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), we assign a trained facilitator to the village. The facilitator is fluent in the local language and is of the same ethnic group as the community members. Facilitators live in the village during the three-year program, getting to know community members both in and out of the classroom. Tostan pays the facilitator and provides the curriculum, and community members house the facilitator and provide classroom space. These mutual commitments encourage everyone to be engaged with the program even if they cannot participate in classes.

Our program consists of two main parts: human rights-based education classes and the establishment of a Community Management Committee (CMC).