Nafissatou J. Diop, PhD

Nafissatou J. Diop is the coordinator of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Program on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Accelerating Change, the world's largest program promoting the abandonment of FGM within a generation. The program is being implemented in 17 countries, at the regional and global level.

Before joining UNFPA, Dr. Diop conducted several research operations to test and evaluate programs addressing Female Genital Mutilation, such as the Tostan Community Empowerment Program in Senegal and its replication in Burkina Faso, the impact of the law in Burkina Faso, the Conversion of Excisors in Mali, and the Effectiveness of Using Health Providers in the FGM campaign. In 2006-07, she led the qualitative study of the Long-Term Evaluation of the Tostan Program in Senegal, which provided important evidence for the validity of the holistic social change approach being supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Program on FGM/C. Beyond the issue of FGM/C, Dr. Diop has directed and managed initiatives to improve community access to quality reproductive health, including Family Planning, Youth, Post Abortion Care and HIV/AIDS services in West Africa.

Dr. Diop has a PhD in demography from the University of Montreal, a Masters in socioeconomics of development, and a Master's in sociology from the University of Nanterre, Paris, France.