Tostan created this innovation because decades of work in rural communities revealed a critical, overlooked truth: the foundation of a child’s learning and life outcomes is shaped long before school begins, yet deeply rooted social norms were preventing parents from interacting with infants in ways essential for healthy brain development. In many West African communities, beliefs discouraged eye contact, speaking to babies, or stimulating young children—practices seen as protective but shown by neuroscience to hinder cognitive, socio-emotional, and linguistic growth. At the same time, parents often lacked access to education, teachers had little training in ECD, and local governments were unaware of their responsibilities to invest in early childhood. Existing ECD or literacy programs failed because they delivered information without transforming the social systems that shaped everyday behavior.
Seeing millions of children entering school unprepared—and knowing that early stimulation, rights-based parenting, and community support could transform outcomes—Tostan designed a holistic, community-driven innovation that integrates parental education, social norms change, and strengthened local governance. By embedding ECD knowledge within the trusted Community Empowerment Program, engaging entire social networks, and equipping decentralized authorities to act, Tostan created a model capable of breaking intergenerational cycles of limited lifelong learning.
Tostan’s innovation is a community-based, four-year system that transforms how families and local authorities support young children. In practice, it begins with a trained local facilitator who lives in the community and leads participatory classes three times a week in the local language. Parents and caregivers learn about child rights, health, nutrition, early brain development, and practical ways to interact with infants—such as making eye contact, talking, singing, playing, and sharing picture books. Through discussion, stories, and role-play, communities collectively question long-held practices and adopt new behaviors together, reducing social pressure and enabling norms to shift from within.
Each community forms a 19-member management committee, mostly women, trained in governance and child protection. They organize awareness events, support early learning spaces, promote birth registration, and engage surrounding villages. Teachers and local officials receive training on ECD, positive discipline, and their responsibilities for early childhood, leading to improved classroom environments and budget allocations for young children. As participants share new practices with relatives, neighbors, and religious leaders, change spreads organically across social networks, creating a self-sustaining movement for children’s early development.
Tostan’s approach has been spreading through an organic, community-driven movement reinforced by strategic expansion. Since 2012, the Reinforcement of Parental Practices (RPP) program has reached 537 communities in Senegal, creating strong evidence of behavior change and social norms transformation. Building on this foundation, Tostan expanded the program in 2024 to The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau—contexts where similar norms shape parenting practices and where access to education is even more limited. This cross-border momentum demonstrates that the model resonates widely across West Africa.
A major achievement in the last two years has been the integration of RPP directly into Tostan’s flagship Community Empowerment Program. In 2024, 125 communities in Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau piloted this new combined model, marking a major step toward embedding positive parenting and early stimulation into the full three-year program. This integration ensures that every community completing the CEP is also equipped with practical tools to nurture children’s early learning.
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, Tostan aims to deepen impact by concentrating efforts at the district level. By engaging both communities and decentralized authorities, Tostan seeks to create sustainable systems where parents receive the support, resources, and enabling environment needed to help every child thrive.
Over the last two years, Tostan has significantly strengthened its innovation through the integration of Vroom’s science-based early brain-building practices, transforming the Reinforcing Parental Practices module into the enhanced RPP+. Through a co-created partnership with Vroom, Tostan reviewed more than a thousand Vroom Tips, selected 60 culturally appropriate ones, and adapted and translated them into Pulaar(a commonly used local language in many West African countries). These tips were introduced in 30 partner communities after participants completed the foundational RPP curriculum, enabling caregivers to apply simple, daily activities that support early brain development.
To expand reach and reinforce learning, Tostan introduced two new delivery tools. Amplio Talking Books now house all 60 tips and accompanying explanations, allowing families to listen, review, and share the practices widely across their social networks. In addition, Tostan produced 28 short video demonstrations used for training and later adapted for sharing with communities through WhatsApp. These innovations helped reach an estimated 18,000 people in the Medina Yoro Foulah district of Senegal.
The final evaluation showed that the Vroom-enhanced RPP+ brought substantial added value: participants were enthusiastic, consistently applied the tips, used the Talking Books for regular review, and confidently shared practices with relatives and neighboring villages.
Since 2015, Tostan has supported over 1,000 development partners to understand and apply the fundamental principles and key aspects of the Community Empowering Education approach in their own contexts. Organizations interested in adopting the model begin by contacting the Tostan Training Center to clarify their goals, challenges, and the specific ways the approach can strengthen their work. Most partners start with an introductory seminar—held either in-country or at the Tostan Training Center—which provides a deep immersion into community-led development, human rights education, social norms transformation, and the creation of sustainable structures such as Community Management Committees.
After the introductory phase, Tostan co-creates a customized partnership pathway. This may include advanced seminars, tailored coaching, and partner-led seminars to test and adapt practices directly within their programs. As partners deepen their learning, they are welcomed into the Lafia Community of Practice, a dynamic global network of alumni who exchange tools, experiences, and innovations across countries and sectors. Through regular interactions, self-organized country networks, and collaborative problem-solving, partners benefit from ongoing support and refine their application of the model to fit their unique communities. Through collaborative learning reviews, Tostan supports partners to generate an evidence base for improved practice.
