On the occasion of International Women’s day 2020, we asked Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, to share her vision of equality and empowerment, recounting her experience of building a world of opportunity for all.

Molly’s interview follows the interview of Safeena Husain, founder of Educate Girls and will be followed by the interview with Debbie Aung, co-founder of Proximity Designs.

Gender equity, gender equality. What do you choose?
My choice of words would depend on the context, and in my view, a related and very important question is who chooses.

For those who have been grappling with ideas around “gender equality” and “gender equity” in places like the US and Europe, I think it is, first of all, important to remind ourselves that people have had many years – often decades – of within-culture and national dialogue and debate that stems from educational opportunities, a culture which values individuality, and waves upon waves of movements, courageous leaders, and public advocacy to change deeply-embedded social norms.

Those same dialogues and debates have been almost non-existent in places where Tostan implements our non-formal education program in national languages. These are places where most have never attended formal school; where access to health, livelihoods, and services are minimal; where centuries-old social norms are valued and held in place by a complex system of expectations and sanctions when they are not respected or followed: places where even questioning is prohibited and can lead to what is considered the most horrible of fates – marginalization or ostracization from one’s immediate and extended family.

This is why the choice of vocabulary in contexts such as these is critical. Tostan avoids words that immediately lead to contention and which might close doors to the dialogue needed when introducing new ideas around previously taboo topics of discussion such as explicitly addressing either “gender equity” or “gender equality”.

After listening deeply to hundreds of our community participants, Tostan chose to use the phrase that people told us could open up constructive dialogue among men, women, traditional and religious leaders, as well as youth and children.  That phrase is: “Everyone is equal in human rights.”  This terminology works because participants in our classes first agree, through facilitated discussion, on what it means to be human - which is gender-neutral. With further study, they are surprised to realize that these human rights principles are actually aligned with their deeper values and religious beliefs.  Reaching out to share these new ideas with their community and social network promotes unity and reinforces the idea that human rights principles need to be owned and respected by all humans: women, men and children. 

This is an implicit way of supporting people to consider and choose, in their own way and with their own vocabulary, behaviour change leading to increased gender equality and gender equity.

What is the main leap forward women have made in recent years? 
Through empowering education in their mother tongue, I have seen village girls and women gain a voice - and with that voice they have been able to speak out for the first time and convince other women and men to break free from many gender stereotypes and gender-adverse social norms.

New confidence in expressing their ideas, not only as they did previously to their husbands privately through what the Wolof call “pillow advice”, but also in public spaces, has led thousands of rural women to run for office at the community, district and even national level. We have also witnessed women working and traveling for the first time outside their home and village. It is exciting that women now have multiple role models across various sectors that serve to inspire and open up new possibilities for other women and for the next generation of girls.  

Almost all sectors in the development field now recognize the value of an empowering, human rights-based education in national languages as a catalyst for achieving an unprecedented “leap forward”, particularly for the many millions of girls and women who have never attended formal school.

What is the highest wall they still need to climb? 
I think there is a wall – but it isn’t one we should ask women to climb, it is one we can all work to knock down together. It is the wall of misunderstanding, a wall of disconnection and lack of trust. It is a wall that, ironically, often exists between those seeking to invest in a better world and the communities who most need their support.

Breaking down that wall will mean investing directly rather than indirectly in the value and potential of women and girls. We’ve spent decades “doing development” over this wall. I think progress has been made very inefficiently – without fully engaging communities and especially women and girls and other marginalized groups – not just as those who can benefit most, but as the owners and drivers of the whole development process.

As more and more people become engaged in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, I hope we will see an end to vertical investments that are contingent on single issues and outside solutions.  I rather envision collaborations with partners horizontally – investing with trust and love in women who are provided with an empowering, holistic education in their own language. I believe they will not only be able to address common challenges successfully, but also rise to face those of the future.  

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