September 30, 2010
From Illiteracy to mCommunity, Jokko Initiative Empowers Women with mLearning
By Wayan Vota (Inveneo, ICT Works, etc.)
Since 1991, Tostan has brought its holistic, 30-month Community Empowerment Program based on human rights to thousands of communities in West Africa. As part of this program, they teach basic literacy and numeracy to community participants, particularly women and girls, but not without problems.
C8 L8ter? Using Mobile Phones as Literacy Tools in Niger
I recently received a text message from my friend Karim in Niger, asking “Keski ce passe?” (What’s happening?). Those of you who know French might notice his text is an abbreviation of the much longer expression for “Qu’est-ce qui se passe”, which is formal and proper but a bit long when you only have 140 characters.
[Read more]
June 24, 2010
Tostan Talks Jokko at Tech Salon
On June 10th, Gannon Gillespie (Tostan Director of US Operations) represented the Jokko Initiative at The Cloudy SMS4D-2 Technology Salon, focused on cloud-based solutions. The Technology Salon - sponsored by the UN Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation - was started in 2008 by Wayan Vota as a forum where technology and development professionals could share their opinions on emerging trends in ICT and international development in an intimate and informal discussion.
Gannon shared Tostan's experience with the Jokko Initiative's RapidSMS-based Community Forum, which allows a community member to disseminate information to a virtual network of her peers by sending a single text message to the Tostan server.
[Read more]
May 26, 2010
With mobile phone networks rapidly expanding to reach the vast majority of Senegalese citizens, and with mobile phones already commonplace in even the most remote villages, mobile technology quickly appeared to us as to be a promising new pedagogical tool for literacy.
March 25, 2010
Tostan Talks Jokko at Tech Salon
On June 10th, Gannon Gillespie (Tostan Director of US Operations) represented the Jokko Initiative at The Cloudy SMS4D-2 Technology Salon, focused on cloud-based solutions. The Technology Salon - sponsored by the UN Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation - was started in 2008 by Wayan Vota as a forum where technology and development professionals could share their opinions on emerging trends in ICT and international development in an intimate and informal discussion.
Gannon shared Tostan's experience with the Jokko Initiative's RapidSMS-based Community Forum, which allows a community member to disseminate information to a virtual network of her peers by sending a single text message to the Tostan server.
May 26, 2010
Published conconversationsforabetterworld.com (25.05.2010)
Also featured on humanitariannews.org (26.05.2010)
Also featured on humanitariannews.org (26.05.2010)
Tostan and the Jokko Initiative: Mobile Technology Amplifying Social Change
With mobile phone networks rapidly expanding to reach the vast majority of Senegalese citizens, and with mobile phones already commonplace in even the most remote villages, mobile technology quickly appeared to us as to be a promising new pedagogical tool for literacy.March 25, 2010
Published on clintonglobalinitiative.org (03.2010)
The Jokko Initiative Named "Exemplary" by the Clinton Global Initiative
The Clinton Global Initiative is a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations, charities, and business leaders to discuss challenges facing the world today and to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.
Commitments to Action are a unique feature of CGI membership and serve to translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. Tostan's Commitment to CGI, « Extending a Model for Community Empowerment across Africa », describes the Jokko initiative and has been recognized as "exemplary" under the CGI 2010 Action Area « Enhancing Access to Modern Technology » .
March 18, 2010
Published on GSMWorld.com (03.2010)
The Jokko Initiative: Building Literacy, Building Leaders
ing and transition countries produced by the GSMA Development Fund in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and launched at the Mobile World Congress held last month in Barcelona.
The report highlights the Jokko Initiative's success in reinforcing women's literacy skills and building their confidence as agents of social change.
March 7, 2010
Published on TheDailyBeast.com (03.07.2010)
Connected Communities: Mobile Technology and Positive Social ChangeThe Jokko Initiative is featured in Tom Watson's article, "Technologies that Empower Women."
August 10, 2009
Published on ICTWorks (08.10.2009)
SMS Forum, Creating Mobile Phone Communities with RapidSMS
Everyone knows how SMS works - you can send an email to one other person. And there are SMS aggreators like Frontline SMS that allow you to send text messages to multiple people. But now we have RapidSMS, which promises to take SMS text messaging to a whole new level.
The Commons congratulates Tostan and UNICEF on their partnership with hundreds of African communities in the new Jokko Initiative in Senegal. Jokko, which means “communication” in Wolof, is opening up new methods of communication and education for people using mobile phones. Published on MobileActive.org by Leigh Jaschke (08.06.09)
The number of women in Tostan villages that have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting is powerful testimony of the organization's impact. The tradition is centuries old. “Since 1997, 3,792 communities in Senegal, 364 in Guinea, and 23 in Burkina Faso, as well as villages from three other African countries, have joined other women [who have participated in Tostan's basic education program] in abandoning this harmful practice,” notes the Tostan website.
The number of women in Tostan villages that have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting is powerful testimony of the organization's impact. The tradition is centuries old. “Since 1997, 3,792 communities in Senegal, 364 in Guinea, and 23 in Burkina Faso, as well as villages from three other African countries, have joined other women [who have participated in Tostan's basic education program] in abandoning this harmful practice,” notes the Tostan website.
