Molly Melching of Tostan: Dignity for All
Speakers
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Founder and Creative Director,
TostanMolly Melching is the Founder and Creative Director of the Non Governmental Organization, Tostan. Having lived and worked in Senegal since 1974, Molly has received international recognition for her groundbreaking educational programs in national languages. Molly’s early experiences in rural Senegal reinforced her beliefs that many development efforts were not addressing the deeper priorities of African communities. In collaboration with Senegalese villagers, she developed a new type of education program that actively involves both adults and youth in promoting positive African values and using traditional ways of learning. Their efforts grew throughout the 1980s, leading Molly to found Tostan in 1991.
Tostan’s innovative grassroots, human rights-based education model has led communities to make significant progress in the areas of health, education, governance, the environment and financial empowerment. To date, more than 8,500 communities in 8 African countries have held public declarations to abandon the practices of female genital cutting and child marriage.
Molly and Tostan have received numerous awards including the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, UNESCO’s King Sejong Literacy Prize, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Thomas J. Dodd Award for Justice and Human Rights. Molly is also the subject of a New York Times best-selling book: “However Long the Night”, written by acclaimed author Aimee Molloy.
