Promoting Peace from the Grassroots Up: A Participatory Human Rights Education Approach in West Africa

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Roundtable Session 1

Proposal

Since 1991, Tostan, a West African-based NGO, has implemented a three-year Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in 22 national languages in over 3,000 communities in eight African countries. In 1997, Tostan integrated a participatory Human Rights and Responsibilities module into the program—transforming community outcomes in health, education, good governance, economic well-being, and environmental resource management. Central to these achievements is a deeply held cultural value, expressed in the Wolof proverb : Jàmm ci la lèpp xejj - Peace is Everything.
This two-hour CIES session departs from the traditional lecture format to immerse participants in one of Tostan’s actual human rights learning activities in Africa. In a non-judgmental, culturally grounded environment, communities critically examine accepted practices, reflect on the alignment of these practices with shared values of collective peace, collaboration, and wellbeing, and collectively decide to abandon harmful practices such as gender-based violence, female genital cutting, child/forced marriage, corporal punishment, and violent confrontation.
Through active participation, CIES attendees will directly experience how this methodology fosters dialogue, encourages leadership of women and youth, builds collective consensus around ending harmful traditional practices, and reinforces peaceful conflict resolution—from family disputes to inter-community tensions such as farmer–herder conflicts. Presenters will also share evidence of large-scale change driven by grassroots engagement, illustrating how participatory education can be adapted for diverse cultural and conflict contexts.
By demonstrating an example—rather than simply describing—this process, the session offers a replicable model for building peace from the grassroots up, in alignment with the 2026 CIES theme Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World.

Authors

• Molly Melching, Tostan

• Yussuf Abdurrahman Sané, Tostan