Senegal : grassroots democracy in action

IK Notes Senegal: Grassroots Democracy in Action Democracy from the family I n villages of the Wolof-speaking groundnut basin and the Fulani- to the state speaking Fouta Toro in Senegal, “de- Before developing any new modules, mocracy” is fast becoming a household however, staff decided to undertake expression. The Senegalese NGO some participatory research into just “Tostan” (a Wolof name that means what most concerned people in this “breaking out of the egg”), a rural realm and what they most needed to women’s non-formal education pro- learn. The results were surprising. Re- gram has been developing for over two spondents very much wanted to expand years a brand of local training in demo- on the issue of human rights and to ex- cratic principles and behaviors. The ini- amine the conditions, even the kind of tiative got under way on the heels of a society, in which these could be more training and empowerment program durably ensured. The term “democ- that the NGO had been promoting racy” surfaced on a number of occa- throughout central Senegal for the last sions, overheard from national political decade. The effort was open to all, but discourse, but no one was too sure ex- it specifically targeted women and in- actly what it meant. Staff resolved cluded lessons in problem-solving, in- therefore to try out a training se- come generation, African-language lit- quence that would use “democracy” as eracy and child health. In order to meet a cover term for the kind of social ar- emerging felt needs, and as the pro- rangements under which human rights gram grew, new modules were devel- could be effectively guaranteed and oped with the beneficiaries One of the people of all groups and ages could play last of these was a module on women’s No. 16 an active role in determining their own health, including some sharing and dis- January 2000 cussion of a long-taboo subject - women’s sexuality - which broke all records for participation throughout IK Notes reports periodically on Indig- enous Knowledge (IK) initiatives in those rural areas. Tostan staff discov- Sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by ered that one strong and unsuspected the Africa Region’s Knowledge and Learning Center as part of an evolving source of interest in this module was IK partnership between the World the emphasis put on human rights, par- Bank, communities, NGOs, develop- ticularly the rights of women and chil- ment institutions and multilateral orga- nizations. The views expressed in this dren to be free from discrimination and article are those of the authors and World Bank the threat of violence. People wanted to should not be attributed to the World Bank Group or its partners in this ini- know more about these matters. tiative. A webpage on IK is available at http://www.worldbank.org/aftdr/ik/ default.htm 2 destiny. The module that resulted from these months of ef- Keeping the faith fort included information, discussion, role-playing and ap- plied activities all focusing on what human rights society Organizers were careful to associate village authorities and must protect, how individual and group values are balanced, religious leaders in the process. In fact, perhaps the greatest by what means those who have been deprived of rights can impetus to the effort was given by its interaction with reli- assert them, how conflict is healed, and the sort of gover- gious values, mostly Islamic in the areas concerned. The nance strategies such goals require. Organizers found it widespread reaction among the faithful was that the rights worthwhile to go back to the root meaning of “democracy” in and democratic principles in question were a better reflec- Greek—government by the people—and to facilitate widespread tion of true Islamic values than much of contemporary soci- discussion of just what this implied and how it related to the ety or customary practice. assertion of human rights and the resolution of conflict. De- Palpable results were soon evident on a number of fronts. mocracy was interpreted and discussed as an arrangement Much of the momentum seems to have come from a dynamic affecting family life, local associations and village organiza- much like Gandhian nonviolence—that is, from deliberate ef- tion every bit as much as it did politics at the regional or na- forts to bring contradictions between values and behavior tional level. The debate and exchange that these topics into the light of collective awareness. Violence against prompted in participating communities was extremely lively women and children in the family provides a case in point. and soon reached well beyond the confines of the non-formal Participants in the Tostan democracy education program education course. A remarkable amount of dialogue between were quick to denounce the practice of allowing the beating men and women, between young people and their elders, and of wives and children within the family. Cases were brought even among ethnic groups ensued in most areas involved. out and discussed in community after community. As a male head of household in the village of Ngaparou put it, “We all knew it was not right to beat women. We just got away with it. IK Notes would be of interest to: But you have to change now, because the whole matter has gone public.” Going public—though usually in a non-aggressive way—has to all appearances been a key arm of the movement. Children’s rights constitute another principal focus. Name Groups in the town of Thies who went through the study then Institution identified the lack of birth certificates for a major proportion of children born in their community as one of the most seri- Address ous abuses of human rights to be remedied. It effectively ex- cluded these children from schooling and a series of life op- portunities. Program participants went on to lobby for new procedures and to obtain certification for a large number of young people. In a number of locations across the region, the problem of early marriage without the consent of girls was Letters, comments, and requests for publications should be addressed to: posed in no uncertain terms and widely debated. The in- creased focus on girls’ rights added new impetus to the Editor: IK Notes grassroots movement to ban female circumcision highlighted Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank in IK Notes # 3 on the Oath of Malicounda. 1818 H Street, N.W., Room J5-055 Washington, D.C. 20433 E-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org  3 Habits of accountability A growth industry The democracy debate appears also to be having major ef- Demand for the democracy module has been increasing and fects on practice within local associations and communities. prompting a sort of local campaign spirit, particularly at the Notions of accountability, transparency, leadership qualifica- intersection between this populism and the issues of tions, interest representation and effective governance were women’s rights. Participants from the islands of Sine Saloum much discussed in the curriculum, as were means for resolv- canoed this summer from community to community in order ing the conflicts that increased claims on social recognition to organize women in a region-wide front against female cir- and equity inevitably produce. Staff now find former partici- cumcision. Over eighty villages, covering nearly the entire pants maintaining that there has been a major change in pro- arrondissement of Dabo, have joined the movement of their cedures and even in personnel within community associa- own volition. And in the Toucouleur areas of the Fouta Toro, tions as a result of the training. “We now know better what a participants in the training program have organized their leader should be,” they say; and there is a noticeable increase own “road show” to take from village to village throughout in women’s access to leadership functions. Women also speak adjoining rural areas. of no longer tolerating customary situations where the leader Results are showing up in some farther-flung areas as well. ¾of either gender¾makes decisions for the membership. Participants from the region of Ngirin Bamba started a gar- And, in several areas, conflict resolution clinics have been es- den project by asking plots from the men of the village on the tablished by women who finished the democracy module. principle of “land to the tiller,”and then posted a sign reading Further political ramifications cannot be excluded. Partici- “the right to land” at the gate to their vegetable and fruit pants suggest that a much larger proportion of women is in- cooperative. terested in voting than ever before - and few are willing to ac- Notions of “democracy”—adapted to local Senegalese con- cept the frequent pattern where the male head of the house- ditions—are thus woven in and among these various asser- hold dictates how all family members shall vote. (In fact, in a tions of human rights. The word itself has been assimilated number of villages it was the chief who decided how all resi- directly into the Wolof and Fulani/Pulaar languages and dents would vote.) The discussion of leader qualifications has crops up now in arguments, proclamations and jokes led in several places to new criteria for evaluating political throughout the villages involved. As a women in Ker Simbara candidacies, a sort of local “checklist” of desirable character- explained to training staff on a follow-up visit, “We had to istics and an indigenous litmus test for democratic inten- change the way we ran our cooperative meetings, because it tions. Women in the Fouta Toro region resolved to monitor wasn’t consistent with ‘democracy!” At a time when the fate more closely national legislation on women’s rights. of national representative government still hangs very much in the balance across the sub-region, a locally-grown variety seems unexpectedly to be laying some of the groundwork for future change. This article is based on research conducted by local researchers with the support and technical supervision of Peter Easton, Associate professor, Graduate Studies in Adult Education., Florida State University, with the active collaboration of the concerned African communities. The research was carried out under the joint aegis of the Club du Sahel/OECD, the Interstate Committee for Combating Drought in the Sahel/Comité Inter-état Contre la Sécheresse (CILSS) and the Associa- tion for the Development of Education in Africa. 4