DIALACOTO, SENEGAL / WEST AFRICA

members of the Pilot Committee for the Declaration of Dialacoto

would

like to invite you to attend their Public Declaration for the Abandonment

of

Female Genital Cutting and Early Marriage by 202 villages to be

held in

NGO, Tostan, implemented the Village Empowerment Program (the Kobi)

in

25 communities in the three rural communities of Missarah, Dialacoto

and

Netteboulou with support from the Government of Senegal, Unicef

and the

Gates foundation. Participants in the program adopted other members

of the

community and visited neighboring areas to do social mobilization

work,

spreading important lifesaving messages from the program to their

relatives

inter-community meetings were held over the past year to discuss

the

promotion of good health practices such as timely vaccination, pre

and post

natal consultation and birth spacing. During these meetings, community

members and religious and traditional leaders from the 202 villages

together

discussed the dangers of FGC and early marriage and made the decision,

as a

larger inter-marrying community, to abandon these harmful practices

to

better respect the human rights and improve the health of girls

and women in

also implemented micro-credit projects, latrines and health kits

in

participating villages with support from AJWS and the Wallace Research

communities have already established follow through committees to

assure

September 21, 1,140 villages in Senegal will have made the decision

to

abandon the practice of FGC and early marriage, representing more

than 20%

of the 5,000 communities which once practiced FGC. All of our communities

are proud to be part of a larger movement for life, health and human

dignity

look forward to sharing our historic decision with you and welcome

you to

from Senegal,