Tostan wins $1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize
Howard Lake | 13 August 2007 | News
Tostan, a human rights NGO that works in nine African countries, has won the world’s largest humanitarian prize for its work to alleviate human suffering. The organisation was selected for its work in empowering communities throughout Africa to transform their lives through an innovative non-formal educational program, teaching in local languages and with African oral traditions.
Steven M. Hilton, President and CEO of the Hilton Foundation, said: “Tostan means ‘breakthrough’ in the Senegalese Wolof language and our distinguished independent prize jury found that the organisation has indeed achieved major breakthroughs, empowering women and improving the lives of millions of people in nine African countries.
“Through Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program, villages have reduced infant and maternal mortality, ended domestic violence, improved community health services and nutrition, and provided education for their children. Micro-credit, environmental and income generating projects have mobilized communities to work together to improve their lives.”
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Tostan was set up in 1991 by Molly Melching, who remains its Executive Director. On winning the award, she said: “This recognition really belongs to the thousands of women, men and youth whose respect for human rights has led to improved health, education and economic security for their people. In what we call organised social diffusion, the more than 160,000 who have taken Tostan’s classes have multiplied the impact of their education tenfold by sharing what they have learned with all the neighboring villages within their own ethnic groups.”
Tostan was one of nearly 250 nominees for the 2007 Hilton Prize. An international jury makes the final selection following extensive examination of the nominees, including field visits to sites around the world.
Previous prize recipients have included Women for Women International (USA); Partners in Health (USA); Heifer International (USA) 2004; International Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims (Denmark); and SOS Children’s Villages (Austria).
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.