Breakthrough Generation Initiative Mixed-Methods Final Evaluation Report

"...demonstrates the impact of Tostan's CEP [Community Empowerment Program] in reinforcing the capacity of communities to make systemic, sustainable changes and improve their individual and collective well-being."
With the Breakthrough Generation Initiative (BGI), Tostan implemented its Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in 150 communities in Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Gambia between 2017 and 2020. The BGI was designed to foster positive social change and end harmful practices at the grassroots level among rural resource-poor populations who had little or no formal schooling. Conducted internally by Tostan staff, this final evaluation of the BGI served to assess and examine the changes in well-being achieved by the partner communities by the end of the programme. Specifically, the evaluation aimed to:
- assess and better understand changes in well-being dimensions related to governance, education, health, and economic development;
- assess and better understand changes (if any) in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours relating to the harmful practices of female genital cutting (FGC), child marriage, and corporal punishment;
- provide a space for community members to reflect on their experience with the CEP and the impact it had on their community well-being;
- draw new insights into the processes of change that took place during the three years; and
- draw lessons to inform further refinements of the CEP, as well as to improve the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) framework, tools, and activities.
The introductory sections of the report provide the background information on the BGI and on the CEP. Since 1991, Tostan's mission has been to reach women and girls and their communities in Africa with empowering education that enables them to define and realise their visions of well-being, to decrease inequalities, and to lead their own development. One of its programmes is the CEP, which is a 3-year participant-centred, human rights-based, African-inspired education programme in local languages. During the first six months of the CEP, Tostan facilitators provide information and encourage dialogue about democracy, good governance, human rights and responsibilities, and collective problem-solving. Participants enjoy a safe space and are encouraged by the highly participatory methodology to define and discuss their vision for the future of their community and to align it with the fundamental values reflected in their religion and with their newly gained appreciation of human rights. Through role play, they rehearse new behaviours and roles previously considered unacceptable, such as women speaking in public and taking on leadership roles. The rest of the programme covers topics that are important to people's lives, including health, hygiene and sanitation, literacy, numeracy, and management skills.
Through the BG, Tostan implemented CEP. The objectives of the BGI were as follows:
- Participants re-examine their current social practices, roles, and relationships within the community and gain the skills and knowledge necessary to improve the well-being of their communities;
- Participants share new knowledge and attitudes developed in the Tostan classes through outreach to the rest of their community and to additional communities, fostering the adoption of new social norms; and
- Community members implement activities that advance the realization of human rights and well-being, with a focus on improving governance, education, health, the environment, and economic empowerment.
The CEP applies the strategy of "organised diffusion". Class participants "adopt" at least one other learner in their community ("adopted learners") and share their classroom experiences. Social mobilisation outreach activities are also part of the organised diffusion. They are organised by Tostan-trained community management committees (CMCs) within the community and in additional communities and are reinforced through inter-village meetings. In addition, Tostan organises community radio broadcasts that reflect the content of the classes and provide opportunities for listeners to call in. Thus, transformational change takes place from within the communities, involves additional communities (referred to as "sensitised communities"), and is sustained by these communities themselves.
The evaluation sought to cover a range of well-being dimensions that Tostan refers to as "GESEE" (governance, education, health [santé in French], economic empowerment, and the environment), harmful practices, and women's empowerment. Data were collected from different actors in the communities that were part of the BGI, including:
- Class participants (CPs): community members who participated in the CEP classes;
- Adopted learners (ALs): community members who did not attend the classes but were engaged in Tostan's "organised diffusion";
- Other community members (OCMs): everyone other than CMC members, CPs, and ALs in communities where the CEP classes were implemented;
- "Sensitised villages": villages where the CMCs conducted social mobilisation activities as part of the organised diffusion; and
- "All" community members: respondents at baseline (CEP classes have not yet begun, and CMCs do not yet exist).
Both qualitative (focus group discussions and interviews) and quantative (survey) data were collected from these groups. Aligned with Tostan's 2016 theory of change, questions sought to capture attitudes, knowledge, and practices.
The results chapter outlines the results of the BGI. In brief, the evidence indicates that the objectives of the BGI were achieved: Communities re-examined their behaviours, social practices, roles, and relationships, and they carried out activities that resulted in improved individual and community well-being. The evidence indicates that the improvements in well-being were community-wide, going well beyond the Tostan classes. The chapter is divided into four sections that reflect the concepts and themes that emerged from the analysis of the coded data and reflect community well-being priorities as follows:
- Section 1 presents the results pertaining to the communities' social cohesion and capacity for collective action. More peaceful and constructive interactions within communities, and with local authorities and service providers, were reported by all categories of stakeholders who participated in the evaluation. The improved relations, with corresponding decreases in violence and more effective collective action for improved well-being, appeared to be among the changes most valued by community members.
- Section 2, on women's voice, influence, agency, and leadership, presents evidence that points to changes in social norms that relate to gender roles and to increases in gender equity. These changes went hand-in-hand with women's increased knowledge, confidence, competency and self-efficacy. The data from Guinea-Bissau were particularly rich with examples. Women said that because of Tostan's presence in their communities, they were better able to advocate with their husbands to keep their children in school, allocate income to healthcare expenses, and reduce violence. Women's increased capabilities and contribution to household and community well-being also contributed to support among men for new, more equitable gender roles.
- Section 3 presents evidence on the notable improvements in the areas of governance, health (including hygiene and sanitation), education, and economic activities. Here is just one example: An increased sense of civic engagement can be observed across BGI communities as shown by evidence in increase in voting and in participation in community meetings, especially by women. At the beginning of the CEP, many children in these communities did not have birth certificates, recognised as a basic right of every child and linked to future civic engagement, access to education and other social services, and voting. A dramatic increase in birth registration is evident in the comparison of the baseline and endline data for OCMs.
- Section 4 pertains to behaviours that are internationally referred to as harmful practices, including FGC, child marriage, and the use of corporal punishment to discipline children. The dramatic changes recorded indicate that communities either strengthened or established social norms that made these practices unacceptable. Among CPs, willingness to intervene to prevent or stop harmful practices was typically between 75% and 92% for all of the practices and across all four countries. All community members report major decreases in these practices in their communities. All CMC members and most of the OCMs expressed satisfaction with the abandonment or decrease of harmful practices in their communities. CMC members also expressed determination to continue to support the abandonment process where it was not yet complete.
The report's discussion section explores these results in detail and examines how the communities made progress. As Tostan notes, the content of interviews and discussions with BGI community members and other actors in their ecosystem are consistent with the structure and content of the CEP, which is designed to reinforce community capacity, build on existing strengths and values, and support community effort to generate improvements in well-being from within. The scaffolded curriculum in the classes, the experiential nature of the learning, the values deliberation, the training of the CMCs, and the organised diffusion provided a step-by-step process of reinforcing capacities. The eight major components identified are outlined below:
- Visibility of early actions and their results stimulated engagement.
- Enhanced relationships and social cohesion played a significant role.
- Inclusive, transparent, and democratic practices increased participation.
- Increased agency and voice transformed women's lives.
- Continued public actions increased community pride and furthered trust and confidence.
- Engaging leaders and officials heightened community awareness of activities and participation.
- Accumulated community trust and solidarity led to openness to abandoning harmful practices.
- Participants disseminated evidence-based information widely and accurately.
The finalisation of this evaluation is concurrent with Tostan's launch of its 2023-2030 strategy, "In Partnership for Community Well-being". Phase I, through 2025, is devoted to consolidation and co-creation with partners. It will serve to systematise the programmatic and methodological lessons from this evaluation in the revision of the CEP and to revise the monitoring and evaluation framework and instruments.
In conclusion: "Taken together, the survey responses and the communities' portrayals of experiences with the Tostan program indicate a systemic shift. At the end of the CEP, communities have a new mental model for a flourishing community that is at the heart of their improved capacity to improve their well-being."
Tostan website and BG Activity Report [PDF], September 2021 - both accessed on June 3 2024; and email from Fo-koffi Djamessi to The Communication Initiative on June 13 2024. Image credit: Tostan
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