HuffPost: Pieces of the Behavior Change Puzzle
October 21, 2010 by Eddie Scher
Gary Slutkin, Executive Director CeaseFire, tells the story of Skoll awardee Molly Melching and the work of Tostan in a column in Huffington Post. Slutkin explores the parallels and draws larger lessons from the work of Tostan to stop female genital cutting and Ceasefire to stop shootings and killings. Slutkin writes:
“Molly Melching had accomplished something remarkable in Senegal. She took a stubbornly ingrained cultural norm, one with 2,000 years of history woven into the very fabric of family practices and tribal custom, with dangerous consequences, and provided the tools to reverse it. Skeptics, some reacting with hostility, said such a thing could not be done in 100 years, others argued 200 years, many more said that it was impossible, but her efforts proved otherwise.”
The work of these innovators challenges the rote understanding that many of us hold on how societal norms and behaviors can be creatively challenged and changed.