FRONTIERS PROJECT
Testing a Community-based Education Program to Improve Women’s Reproductive Health and Eradicate Female Genital Cutting (FGC)

This project tested the replication of an initiative to reduce FGC by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Tostan. The approach, first piloted in Senegal, uses community education to help women improve their lives and their health, including their reproductive health. FRONTIERS collaborated on the replication with the NGOs Tostan and Mwangaza Action, and the Center for Research and Teaching on Demography, University of Ouagadougou (UERD) in Burkina Faso. Participating women took part in a basic education program to increase literacy and awareness of reproductive health issues. The community and its leaders received sensitization on the harmful effects of FGC and were encouraged to publicly reject the practice. A public declaration took place in May 2003 and was attended by most program participants and many others who had been indirectly exposed to the intervention.

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Location

Bazèga, Burkina Faso

Duration

October 2000–September 2003

Population Council researcher

Nafissatou Diop

Non-Council collaborators

Mwangaza Action

Tostan

Unité d'Enseignement et de Recherche en Démographie, University of Ouagadougou (UERD)

Donor

US Agency for International Development

Publications/Resources on this project

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See Also

• Burkina Faso
• Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
• FRONTIERS Female Genital Cutting
• FRONTIERS Burkina Faso

Offsite Link

• INTACT Network (a Population Council initiative to enhance communications and research utilization in the FGM/C field.)

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