Tostan Inc.

“The form 990 was prepared by the outside accountants. A draft of the return was reviewed by senior management and audit committee. The final form 990 was provided to the board of directors before filing with the irs.”

“All employees and board members are asked to annually submit any conflicts of interest in writing. New hires will be asked if there is a conflict and notice will be given to the senior management immediately and board yearly. If a conflict arises, the board of directors determine whether the conflict exists and, if so, the board votes to authorize or reject the transaction or take any other action deemed necessary to address the conflict and protect tostan's best interests. Board members have a duty to disclose any possible conflict of interest. The board of directors determines whether a conflict of interest exists and, if so the board votes to authorize or reject the transaction or take any other action deemed necessary to address the conflict and protect tostan's best interests. Votes will be by a majority vote, without counting the vote of any interested director, even if the disinterested directors are less than a quorum provided that at least one consenting director is disinterested. An interested board member, officer, or staff member will not participate in any discussion or debate of the board of directors, or of any committee or subcommittee in which the subject of discussion is a contract, transaction, or situation in which there may be a perceived or actual conflict of interest. However, they may be present to provide clarifying information in such a discussion or debate unless objected to by any present board or committee member. Anyone in a position to make decisions about spending tostan's resources (i.e., transactions such as purchases contracts) - who also stands to benefit from that decision - has a duty to disclose that conflict as soon as it arises (or becomes apparent); s/he will not participate in any final decisions.”

“The board committee reviews comparable salaries before making any recommendations for senior staff salaries. The process is documented. A review was last conducted in june 2013. The board committee also reviews comparable salaries before making any recommendations for the key employees salaries. The process is documented. Tostan's compensation policy is to pay at the 25th percentile of the market for senior management and towards the 75th percentile for around 900 african staff members in the field.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“In 2015, tostan operated in 6 countries: guinea: tostan worked with 40 communities, with a total of 2,354 participants. Guinea-bissau: tostan worked with 50 communities, with a total of 3,815 participants. Mali: tostan worked with 40 communities, with a total of 2,185 participants. Mauritania: tostan worked with 30 communities, with a total of 2,096 participants. Senegal: tostan worked with 326 communities, with a total of 16,463 participants. The gambia: tostan worked with 40 communities, with a total of 3,608 participants. Total number of tostan program participants in 2015 in the 6 countries: 30,521 in 526 african communities. Community empowerment program (cep): our unique three-year program empowers community members in six west african countries with the skills and knowledge they need to lead their own development. The cep is a non-formal education program, based on human rights, and is implemented in 22 local languages. It combines modern education techniques with traditional african oral teaching methods and is underpinned by a respectful approach to local beliefs and culture. Impact areas: our work uses a holistic approach for community-led development, and our impacts are found across five key areas: governance, education, health, environment, and economic growth. Each impact area is elaborated upon below: governance: cep participants learn about the fundamental elements of defending and respecting those rights. In 2015, 356 communities in six countries participated in the cep, while 170 additional communities took part in a post-cep program or module. Each community democratically selects 17 members to form a community management committee (cmc) who are trained in the skills necessary to implement projects in their communities. These committees become a strong leadership presence in tostan communities, contributing to the growth of good governance and democracy. They work to increase democratic participation by encouraging residents to register to vote and participate in national elections and by helping them obtain national identity cards and register births. The participation and leadership of women in cmcs is highly encouraged, and in 2015, 100% of cmcs in guinea, guinea-bissau, mali, mauritania and senegal had a majority of female members. These women emerge as community leaders, activists, and role models, showing young girls and boys alike that women can succeed in leadership roles and work alongside men as equals. Education: cmcs organized during the cep lead initiatives that ensure girls and boys are enrolled in school. When a family is considering removing their child from school, cmc members meet with them to discuss other possible solutions. Child/forced marriage is one practice that is a key factor in determining whether a girl will stay in school. Following their participation in our holistic program, 381 communities across the countries in which we work pledged to abandon child/forced marriage in 2015, bringing the total number to 7,630 as a result, thousands of girls are likely to have the opportunity to stay in school for longer, rather than be married at a young age. In the final module of the cep, the aawde, participants learn to read and write in their local languages, as well as basic math skills. Learning how to send and receive sms text messages through the mobile phones for literacy and development (mpld) module, described below, encourages participants to practice and share their newly acquired literacy skills. 2015 also saw the growth of our reinforcement of parental practices (rpp) module, funded by the william and flora hewlett foundation. This module builds on knowledge gained during the cep to enable parents and communities to create an environment which supports children's early development and learning in order to better prepare them for success in school and life. Health: during the cep, participants learn about their right to health and the right to be free from all forms of violence”

“The child protection module strengthens the capacity of communities to provide protection for children and prevent violations of children's rights by reinforcing the capacities of communities and their surrounding villages to identify at-risk children, reinforcing the capacities of communities to prevent the trafficking or migration of children to urban centers, reinforcing the capacities of communities to help children in difficult situations such as sexual abuse, incest, forced marriage and fgc, and fostering the creation of dynamic and functional commissions for child protection in all communities. All communities who participate in the cep, specifically the cmcs, are trained in the child protection module. After the training, cmcs establish commissions for child protection (ccps), which lead the community in advocating for children's rights and transforming existing social norms that sustain harmful practices. Thousands of children have been registered at birth by cmcs, improving their access to school and legal recognition. In addition to leading these community-wide projects, cmcs also intervene directly in cases of child abuse. Early childhood development: in order to address this issue, we developed the reinforcement of parental practices (rpp) module. The rpp module conducted a successful pilot program in 2012 ahead of its launch in march 2013 and in 2014 was introduced in 110 communities in senegal. The module aims to reinforce knowledge gained in the cep that encourages parents and other community members to create an environment for children's development. As a result, the module will help improve children's early development and learning, allowing them to perform better and stay in school. Research has shown that certain social norms and traditional practices in senegal can hinder the brain development of infants. For example, the belief that infants must be protected from dangerous spirits: to protect them certain parents avoid looking newborn babies in the eye and speaking regularly and directly to them. However, recent discoveries about brain development in young children have shown importance of stimulating interactions between parents and their children. During the rpp module, facilitators share with community members simple techniques that enrich interactions between parents and their young children and are all linked to children's basic human rights to education and health. These techniques include speaking to their young children using a rich and complex vocabulary, asking their children questions and helping them respond, playfully copying their children, telling them stories, and describing objects in detail to them. Primary caregivers in each community are trained to teach others the same skills after tostan leaves. This module is implemented in wolof, pulaar, and mandinka communities in senegal. 2015 was another successful year for rpp, with religious leaders, school directors, teachers, caregivers and community members coming together to advocate for positive early childhood development (ecd) practices. Highlights include: over the summer of 2015, tostan received the results of a rigorous external evaluation of the rpp program in the kaolack region, conducted by stanford university. Results showed that caregivers in rpp communities nearly doubled (78%) the amount of speech directed at their child during a 5 minute naturalistic play session. 95% of caregivers scored as very knowledgeable about ecd, compared to 34% in non-rpp communities. There was a sizeable reduction in how strongly caregivers approved of physical punishment of children, as compared to caregivers in control villages. Children in rpp villages showed impressively large gains in language skills one year later. Children in both groups more than doubled the number of words they said in the 5 minute play session, but the increase was 50% greater for children in the rpp group. In february and march of 2015, each of the tostan regional office”

“Empowered communities network (ecn): the ecn has been set up to support communities to partner with other organizations on development initiatives. Through the ecn, we connect trained cmcs with nonprofit partners, microfinance institutions, businesses, government authorities, and other service providers so they can access resources and funding to continue their community-led development projects. The ecn also assists cmcs to form federations and work together on development projects, ensuring the sustainability of the cep. Mobile phone for literacy and development (mpld) module: the module focuses on using mobile phone technology, specifically sms text messaging, as a tool to reinforce literacy and numeracy skills, and is now an integrated part of the cep. Mobile phones and their networks are becoming increasingly more prevalent in the communities with which we partner. We found that using mobile phone technology is a relevant and innovative way to reinforce literacy and numeracy skills learned in the cep. Tostan facilitators teach participants the practical uses of standard mobile phone functions and how sms texting can be used as a tool to practice their literacy skills. The mobile phones are used to reinforce literacy, organization, and management skills, as well as to build consensus around local development initiatives. Sms texting becomes a sustainable and relevant option for reinforcing literacy and numeracy as access to mobile phone technology increases. Mobile phones and sms text messaging can be used as a tool to accelerate positive social transformation. They connect women with each other and with their communities; amplify the voice and influence of youth and marginalized groups in a community's decision-making process; organizing advocacy work; and accelerate large-scale social movements. The peace and security project: the peace and security project works to strengthen and support the grassroots strategy of community-led development found in the cep to improve peace and security in the west african region. It focuses on building ways to overcome barriers that limit an individual's ability to develop through collaboration at the local, regional, and national level. The peace and security project first strengthens peace-building at the community level by reinforcing the prevention of violence skills learned in the cep. These skills include improved communication and problem-solving skills as well as the peaceful resolution of community and familial conflicts. The project also works to develop strategies for fostering peace and security across social networks through research and collaboration. The peace and security project researched the function and nature of major social networks in senegal, gambia and guinea-bissau, and identified persons of influence in terms of peace and security in pular, mandinka, and diola communities. It also works to connect grassroots communities and their social networks with regional and international institutions. With this increased collaboration, regions and nations as a whole can work together to identify barriers to the peace and security of their area and create solutions that will overcome those barriers. The peace and security project conducted preliminary research in 2012, was formally launched in march 2013 in 60 communities spread across guinea-bissau, senegal and the gambia. In 2015, the program saw the opening of 60 new peace and security centers in senegal, the gambia and guinea bissau, with the participation of 3,058 individuals (87% of which were women). Those participants in turn "adopted" (= shared and discussed what they had learned) 2,328 people and 70 communities (31 in senegal, 19 in gambia and 20 in guinea-bissau), all of this resulting in the engagement of almost 5,400 people. The program also saw the establishment of 60 peace committees composed of women and men in the three countries where the project is taking place, bringing the total number of peace commit”

“2015 and beyond: future perspectives. Launched in 2010, tostan's strategic plan 2010-2015 has guided our work for the past six years. It has the main goal of reaching 3,000 communities, and envisions changes for the organization and its programs. Building upon the mid-term assessment completed in december 2012 (available in our 2012 annual report), tostan in 2015 assessed its progress to-date, with a view toward shaping a new strategic period beginning in 2016. During this review, we confirmed that we had successfully launched a new collaborative funding model in our generational change in three years campaign, we saw major improvements in our logistics capacities, and we redesigned our branding and launched a brand new website. Crucially, we also developed exciting new programs and integrated others into the full community empowerment program. The review revealed that while most of our internal operational goals were met, some opportunities remained, while others had fallen out of date. Finally, the organization saw an opportunity to better design its next strategic planning process, to adapt and adjust in real time as realities change. These critical areas for improvement will be major factors in shaping our next strategic period, which is currently intended to extend from 2016-2022.”

“The organization also has additional staff of 805 located in africa.”

“Refund of restricted funds to donors -10,165. Funds written-off -7,260. Exchange rate loss -463,952.”