Projects in Francophone Africa
Completed projects from 2024 – 2025
Social scientific and theological approaches to tackling corruption in Guinea
Guinea, a coastal country in West Africa, ranks 141 out of 180 on the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International. Since gaining independence from France in 1958, the country has experienced military coups, ethnic conflicts, corruption and abuse by the military and police.
As a trainee auditor and a graduate student in accounting, Pépé Lucien Haba has witnessed the impact of the corruption: it has hindered Guinea’s sustainable economic development, violated citizen’s rights and undermined the credibility of institutions. Many citizens feel a sense of resignation, accepting corruption as it seems impossible to end it. Yet at the same time, public opinion seems to hold that Christians are less corruptible.
Pépé’s project will adopt a multidisciplinary approach to understand the root causes of corruption and to propose ways to mitigate it that are rooted in science, theology and African culture.
Eradicating corruption from Guinea may seem like an insurmountable task. Most people are involved in corruption – either directly, through the abuse of power and misuse of resources for personal gain, or indirectly for example by supporting the status quo. In this challenging context, Pépé wants to explore the question: how can Christians be equipped to understand and tackle corruption?
He will explore the socio-economic, political and cultural foundations of corruption and theological approaches to the issue through literature reviews and interviews with experts. Through focus groups, he will collect and analyze the life stories of Christian students and interview them about how their worldview informs their actions. He will present his findings in a report. Lastly, he will organize a public conference to equip participants to understand the causes, consequences and ways out of corruption, including the role of virtues such as integrity, justice and responsibility.
— Pépé Lucien Haba is in the final stages of a master’s degree in accounting at the Catholic University of West Africa. He is an assistant at an auditing firm, and volunteers with GBEEG, his IFES movement.
Increasing the representation of women in PhD programs in Cameroon
In Cameroon’s universities, there is a persistent gender gap in PhD programs. Subtle discrimination, traditional gender ideologies and economic difficulties prevent women from entering and succeeding in doctoral programs. Women are expected to prioritize marriage and family over academic and professional careers, and low self-esteem causes them to stifle their abilities and aspirations.
In a pilot study, doctoral student Lesly Sandra Guebon Bende found that from 2021-2023, women made up 33 percent of first-year doctoral students at her university and only 24 percent at two other state universities. Such low numbers create a “leaky pipeline” in which there’s a lack of qualified women to enter faculty roles. According to Cameroon’s Ministry of Higher Education, only seven percent of the country’s full professors are women.
Lesly’s project aims to raise the level of women’s education in Cameroon by bringing together theological and humanitarian approaches to gender and equal access to education. She will conduct a literature review and surveys to better understand the barriers to women’s participation in PhD programs and will publish her results in a scholarly article. She will establish weekly mentoring groups for female doctoral students, providing psycho-social and academic support, including assistance with scholarship and funding applications.
She will also organize workshops and a conference aimed at students and national movement staff. Increasing the number of Christian women with PhDs would not only diversify the academy, but also provide much-needed female voices in science-theology dialogue.
— Lesly Sandra Guebon Bende is a doctoral student in the philosophy of humanitarianism and care and a volunteer instructor at the University of Dschang in Cameroon.
Exploring political, cultural and theological approaches to Burkina Faso’s governance crisis
According to the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, most violent conflicts and crises facing parts of the African continent are rooted in inadequate governance (PSC 766th meeting; 2018). Since 2015, Burkina Faso has faced a security and humanitarian crisis that has been accompanied by a deterioration of overall governance. Conflicts have displaced more than two million people, the country has experienced nine successful politics coups since 1950, and 40 percent of citizens live below the poverty line.
Good governance is essential to sustainable development and human flourishing. The Bible calls Christians to contribute to societal flourishing, and it includes good models for preparing leaders. Yet when graduate student Moustapha Ouedraogo conducted a pilot project on this topic, he found that very few Christians in his country are active in public affairs and politics. Either they haven’t been adequately prepared for political leadership or they believe Christians shouldn’t engage in the political sphere as they perceive it to be “evil”.
Working with his IFES movement, UGBB, Moustapha will investigate why Christians are reluctant to engage with politics and will explore how cultural, theological and political approaches could encourage them to do so. His goal is to raise up a new generation of honest, competent and transformational political leaders.
To better understand Christian attitudes to politics in Burkina Faso, he will conduct surveys of students, researchers and church leaders in the city of Ouagadougou. He will publish his findings in a scientific article and develop a training manual about political leadership for the national movement.
Moustapha will host a panel discussion for students and researchers at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, focused on the intersection of academia, and religious and cultural values. Lastly, he will organize a conference on faith and political governance for Christian students, researchers and leaders of churches and Christian organizations.
— Moustapha Ouedraogo is studying for a PhD in the sociology of organizations and governance at the University of the Christian Alliance in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He also works for UGBB.
Integrating scientific, theological and cultural beliefs about animals to tackle student poverty
Senegal has been classified as a heavily indebted poor country by the World Bank. Most of the population works in agriculture or food production, and the country is vulnerable to climate variations. Failed development policies have slowed its progress.
Student poverty is a major problem at Cheikh Anta Diop University in the capital, Dakar. This causes students to drop out or repeat years of study, and many face unemployment once they graduate.
Veterinarian Pape Jean Paul Bakhoum is an alumnus of the university and has witnessed the problems first-hand. He conducted an LCI pilot project and discovered that many Christian students wanted to overcome their personal poverty but didn’t know how, and that often students overlooked animals as a possible form of income-generation.
Pape Jean Paul is leading a project that will bring together scientific, theological and cultural perspectives on animals to equip students to engage in animal-related entrepreneurship, such as raising pigs or sheep. The project will explore how this kind of entrepreneurship can be conducted in a way that balances income-generation with animal welfare, motivated by the Christian mandate to care for God’s creation.
Working in partnership with GBUSS, the IFES movement, the project will work with Christian students and those of other faiths. Pape Jean Paul will survey students to understand more about their attitudes towards animals and will share his results in a scholarly article. Events organized will include an awareness-raising debate on campus and a conference exploring the links between veterinary medicine and theological and cultural convictions on the use of animals.
— Pape Jean Paul Bakhoum is a veterinarian working in private practice in Senegal. He also volunteers with his IFES movement.
Religious sects on the rise in Togo’s universities: studying their history, promoting dialogue
Togo, a small country in West Africa, is a secular state with a diverse range of religions. Christianity is the most widely professed faith (42 percent); 37 percent of citizens follow traditional African religions and 14 percent are Muslim. It’s not uncommon for Christians and Muslims to also follow indigenous religious practices.
N’Nigmatoui Ouadja, a historian and graduate student, conducted a pilot project and found that a number of religious sects are becoming more active on university campuses, inviting students to join them. Some groups, the Kemites for example, are related to traditional African religions while others syncretize Christianity and traditional African beliefs or claim to be Christian but include beliefs and practices that aren’t biblical.
Lack of understanding has led to distrust between students of different religions and has created a need for ways to foster inter-religious dialogue.
For his LCI project, N’Nigmatoui aims to foster a better understanding of these religious groups and promote inter-faith dialogue on university campuses in order to promote social cohesion and prevent the rise of inter-religious conflict. He will conduct a study to understand more about the history, ideology and practices of these religious groups. This will involve a literature review and interviews with key individuals, such as leaders of these groups. The results will be shared with students at a workshop. N’Nigmatoui will then organize a conference and a series of small-group discussions to promote inter-faith dialogue.
— N’Nigmatoui Ouadja holds a master’s degree in African history and civilizations and is now studying for a PhD in human and social sciences at the University of Kara. He also volunteers with his IFES national movement.
Exploring theological and social science approaches to leadership development in the digital age
Most of today’s university students are true digital natives. Those living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are no exception. As part of Generation Z (individuals born after 1997), they have grown up with smartphones and social media and have adopted the latest technologies without question.
Graduate student James Nzanzu spent five years working with Christian students in Goma, a city in eastern DRC, and observed the struggles students faced with digital media, such as assessing the truthfulness of online content, discerning what to consume and resisting temptations that present themselves at the click of a finger. He also spotted a need for leaders of GBUDRC, the IFES movement, to better understand students’ relationship with technology and to help them grapple with how to live with personal integrity in the digital age.
Working with the GBUDRC group in the city of Goma, James’ project aims to equip Christian students to deal with the moral implications of digital media on their spiritual lives. He wants to enable them to develop a critical and constructive approach to technology use, and to help leaders discern how positive aspects of technology can be used in student mentoring programs.
James will explore the social and theological context of student leadership development in the digital age through a literature review, focus groups with national movement leaders and surveys of students. He will host a conference featuring experts in technology, sociology, psychiatry and theology, who will discuss the impact of digital technology on society. Lastly, he will prepare a report, and lead a training session for 20 leaders of his national movement.
— James Nzanzu is studying for a master’s in computer networks and telecommunications engineering at the Institut Supérieure de l’Informatique et de Gestion. He also volunteers with his national movement.
Exploring a Christian perspective on smartphone use
In the last 15 years, smartphones have profoundly transformed our relationship with technology and our very existence, becoming an inescapable extension of ourselves. Some thought these technologies would liberate us, but addiction to these tempting devices has been shown to damage our relationships, fragment our attention and undermine productivity. Multiple studies have shown that we check our smartphones, on average, 150 times a day.
Most university students are part of the “smartphone generation” – individuals born after 1995 who have grown up with smartphones. Students in the island nation of Madagascar are no exception, says educational technology expert Andréa Sylvano Razanatsara. Nationally, 36 percent of people own a smartphone (Okano etal; 2022), but the percentage is much greater in urban areas.
Working with UGBM, the IFES movement in Madagascar, Andréa will conduct interviews and surveys to understand more about students’ relationships with their phones, including ethical challenges. She will combine her scientific findings with theological perspectives to create a report and a training seminar for the national movement, The goal is to help students become more aware of their motivations, priorities and habits, so that they may adopt a more intentional and ethical use of their phones and achieve a balance between using technology and investing in face-to-face relationships.
— Andréa Sylvano Razanatsara is a part-time lecturer in educational technology at the Higher Institute of Technology of Antsiranana, where she is also head of the documentation and information center. She also volunteers with the local UGBM group.
Putting disability at the heart of science-theology dialogue in Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire is on a journey towards better integrating people with disabilities into society. Laws have changed and some steps have been taken. But speech and language therapy student Marie Priscille Gnaly noticed that her university has not evolved to include disabled students and enable them to thrive.
In a pilot study for this LCI project, she found that her university’s infrastructure and architecture has not been adapted to suit the needs of students with disabilities. Faculty are not experienced in teaching students with sensory disabilities, and disabled students struggle to access scholarships and university rooms. One professor estimated that disabled students face difficulties that are ten times greater than those of non-disabled students on campus.
Marie’s project will advocate for a better integration of students living with disabilities at Felix Houphouët Boigny University – the largest university in the nation. She will organize an awareness-raising campaign exploring scientific, legal and theological perspectives on disability and highlighting the need for better inclusion of students with disabilities. It will involve educational pamphlets, videos, public debates and a conference, all aimed at students, faculty and administrators.
Because one of the greatest barriers to integration is trauma, 20 students with disabilities will be invited to participate in a support group, providing opportunities for sharing, listening and counselling.
In recent years, the IFES movement, GBUCI, has made a specific effort to include and welcome students with disabilities, and has established a cell group for disabled students in Cocody, where Marie’s university is based. Working in partnership with the movement, Marie hopes her project will further invigorate GBUCI’s efforts to include students with disabilities.
— Marie Priscille Gnaly is a speech therapist and is in the final stages of a master’s degree in speech therapy, specializing in learning disorders. She is also a volunteer with her national movement.
Strengthening Madagascan students’ digital skills for research
New digital technologies are pervasive in most of our lives, whether for study, leisure or religion. A Christian perspective holds that humans are created in the image of God and have been gifted the intelligence to develop such technologies, but we are also called to be wise stewards of our resources, knowledge and talents.
In the island nation of Madagascar, where more than 80 percent of people live in poverty (World Bank; 2024), almost all universities lack basic IT infrastructure. LCI Catalyst Dieu Donné Jaomisy, a computer science graduate, experienced this during his studies at the University of Madagascar. Only a very limited number of students own computers. The cost of going to an internet cafe is prohibitively high. He observed that students are often addicted to social media on cheap mobile phones but lack the skills and equipment necessary to conduct independent research for their studies.
Dieu Donné, who now works for UGBM, the IFES movement in Madagascar, is leading a project that aims to equip Christian students for the digital world so that they can excel in their studies.
He will establish a training lab with eight computers, where students from the national movement will receive training in IT and online research skills and be introduced to ideas such as creating blogs and videos. They will also participate in IFES online training modules.
Dieu Donné will then evaluate their experience of the training, which will inform the development of future training strategies in the national movement. Lastly, the project will include a conference on technology and the Christian faith.
— Dieu Donné Jaomisy is the project and logistics manager for UGBM.
The impact of religious beliefs on the prevention of zoonotic diseases
Scientists estimate that more than 60 percent of infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 75 percent of new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals (Centers for Disease Control, USA). In Africa, these zoonotic diseases increased by 63 percent between 2012 and 2022 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The potential for diseases to spread from animals to people has increased because Africa’s fast-growing population has created a greater demand for animal-derived food products. When an outbreak occurs, rising urbanization and improved transport links means disease can spread more rapidly.
The WHO has identified a need for more research into environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that affect the emergence and transmission of epidemic-prone diseases. The involvement of religious communities in promoting healthy behaviors and helping prevent zoonotic diseases has proved crucial in several African countries.
In Côte d’Ivoire, biology doctoral student Eustache Hounyeme is leading a project that will explore religious communities’ perceptions to decrease the prevalence of zoonotic diseases in Bouaké, the country’s second largest city.
Through surveys and questionnaires, he will explore the impact of Christian and Muslim communities’ beliefs, attitudes and practices related to these diseases. He will also survey farmers and slaughterhouse staff. The data will enable him to make culturally and locally-relevant recommendations for preventing and controlling zoonotic diseases in Bouaké.
The findings will be shared with students and researchers through a workshop and the community through awareness-raising events and materials. He will share his results with the scientific community through a scholarly article and a presentation at a national conference on public health. Eustache will conduct the study with assistance from a sociology of health graduate student and the findings will be the basis for their master’s thesis.
— Eustache Hounyeme (originally from Bénin) is studying for a PhD in genetics and molecular biology at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin (but his studies take place in Côte d’Ivoire). He also volunteers with GBUCI, the IFES national movement.
Recognizing the value of traditional African conflict management methods
Africa has a long history of traditional conflict management methods, involving mediation, negotiation, adjudication and reconciliation to promote peace, tolerance and solidarity. These methods have been effective because they reflect local culture and history. But colonialism, western influence and African Christians’ bias against traditional culture has decreased the influence of the traditional chiefs responsible for leading such methods. While Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan called for more attention to be paid to indigenous and informal mechanisms of conflict resolution so that they may maintain their often-essential role.
Conflict management expert Geneviève Guei’s project aims to encourage researchers, chiefs and citizens in Côte d’Ivoire to recognize the value of traditional methods of conflict management through constructive dialogue between cultural traditions and the Christian faith.
Geneviève will conduct a study exploring the conflict management methods used by the Wês, a people group in the west of the country. She will be assisted by a team of trained volunteers from her IFES national movement and from the Department of the Culture of Peace, a research unit of the UNESCO Chair within the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB). They will collect data through interviews with religious, cultural and youth leaders and a community meeting, and will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used. The results will be shared in a scientific article, a public conference and an event at an independent research lab called LIRE – the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Endogenous Realities.
Through workshops, Bible studies and debates aimed at students at UFHB, the country’s largest university, the project will provide spaces for dialogue about how peace and conflict studies, theology and cultural anthropology can be integrated into conflict management.
— Geneviève Guei recently completed a doctorate at UFHB (Côte d’Ivoire) in the culture of peace, conflict prevention, management and resolution. She now volunteers with her IFES movement, serves as a consultant for the African Perspective Study Bible and takes a part-time course at the Geneva Bible Institute.
Promoting social dialogue to strengthen peace and reconciliation in Burundi
Nine years on from the end of Burundi’s ethnic-based civil war, the country is still in recovery. The current peace is extremely fragile. Laurent Kayogera, a communications expert working for UGBB, the IFES national movement, reports that even small triggers can easily provoke violence, hate speech, tension and unrest, including on university campuses.
In a study on post-conflict peacebuilding, the late African studies scholar Bert Ingelaere, noted two tendencies among Burundians: some want to dredge up the past, others prefer to adopt collective amnesia. Social scientists have noted that burying the pain of the past can be a breeding ground for new conflicts. Communities need to come together to dialogue about the past and the root causes of divisions, to process trauma and to engage in conflict resolution.
Laurent’s project aims to promote dialogue about peace and reconciliation among students of all faiths, university administrators and religious leaders. The goal is to equip key actors from these groups to prevent and resolve conflicts on university campuses and churches, promoting peace and unity.
Drawing on principles from social sciences and the Bible, the project will involve: an inter-religious dialogue workshop for faith leaders; a workshop for student leaders from UGBB and other university societies, and campus administrators to discuss the origins, prevention and management of conflicts in the university; and training sessions for UGBB student leaders on models of conflict management and reconciliation. In addition, Laurent and his team will produce five podcast episodes about the topic.
Laurent’s current project evolved from his 2023 – 2024 project, which explored the role of oral communication in the transmission of science, faith and culture in Burundi, a country with a rich oral tradition. He surveyed students and scholars, interviewed experts and will publish his results in a scholarly article. He also organized a one-day workshop on this theme.
–Laurent Kayogera holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and is the training coordinator for UGBB.
Strengthening inter-religious collaboration to protect the environment in central Benin
Religion affects people’s lifestyles, symbols and rhythms, which then impacts the landscape. Bringing religious leaders and other stakeholders together could be a powerful tool to tackle the current ecological crisis. But in Benin, Christian geographer Camille Yabi has found that this is not happening.
In 2023 – 2024, he conducted a study on the impact evangelical Christians, Catholics and traditional African religions have on the environment in central Benin and shared his results through an article and two conferences. Camille’s findings revealed there is no collaboration between endogenous religions and Christian communities about the environment. Furthermore, he found a lack of interest and awareness among protestants and evangelicals about preserving the environment. Meanwhile, traditional African religions have established protected “sacred forests,” and some Catholic churches have been involved in reforestation.
In 2024 – 2025, Camille’s project aims to encourage Christians to get involved in environmental care and to strengthen collaboration among religious leaders, members of GBEEB (the IFES movement), local government leaders, scientists and environmental journalists.
These different groups will be brought together to create two botanical gardens, planting endangered plants and those that are beneficial to mental health. Trained student volunteers from GBEEB will oversee the gardens, which will be accessible to the local community.
Camille and his team will run awareness-raising events on the Christian call to creation care for university and secondary school students. These will be accompanied by an awareness-raising campaign involving social media and a blog written by environmental journalists. Camille’s project findings will be incorporated into his geography master’s thesis, and he will travel to neighboring Togo to share the results with the national movement there.
— Camille Yabi is studying for a master’s in geography and environmental management at the University of Abomey Calavi in Benin. He was formerly the General Secretary of GBEEB and now serves as a volunteer advisor.
Making e-learning work for Francophone Africa: anthropological and theological reflections
Online and hybrid courses became mainstays of education across the world during the pandemic. Even before Covid, MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) had become popular in higher education. Despite e-learning’s advantages in terms of accessibility, flexibility and cost, educators are beginning to research its disadvantages. Only a few of these studies have looked at the African context, and those that have, focused on technical difficulties and not on cultural and anthropological aspects.
In 2023 – 2024, training expert David Mouandjo’s project explored how e-learning worked for French-speaking African students. He conducted a study to provide anthropological and theological reflections on e-learning within GBUAF, the IFES Francophone Africa region which includes 24 national student movements. This involved theoretical research, surveys and interviews to evaluate IFES’ online courses in the region. He found several obstacles that prevent students from taking advantage of online training opportunities in their national movements and academic courses.
In 2024- 2025, David is continuing his project by proposing solutions to the e-learning challenges he identified. He will achieve this by developing and distributing an e-learning manual for IFES leaders and using his findings to revise the French-language version of IFES’ online course, Engaging the University.
In addition, students from GBUAF national movements and beyond will be invited to join a series of five online workshops exploring the top five challenges to online learning in the region. These include: the prevalence of “lecture style” teaching in which an expert imparts knowledge rather than a focus on critical thinking; motivation (motivated to get a job rather than a passion for the subject); different cultural approaches to time management; Africa’s relationship with technology which includes technophobia; and the digital divide between those who do and do not have access to technology and the internet. Videos of the workshops will be distributed across the movements in the region.
— David Mouandjo lives in Cameroon and is studying for a PhD in theology at the Protestant University of Central Africa. He also works for GBEEC (the IFES movement in Cameroon) as national manager for training, leadership development and scripture engagement.
Empowering students to escape from poverty through entrepreneurship
Senegal is poor partly because of its reliance on agriculture, vulnerability to climate variations and failed development policies, but religious attitudes also play a role. Research conducted by economist Dr Albertine Bayompe Kabou suggests that religious beliefs (Islamic, animist and Christian) have a significant influence on students’ mindset and actions related to poverty and can be an important lever in supporting people to be agents of change in their own exit from poverty.
Two years ago, Albertine began working with the IFES movement in Senegal to empower students to escape from poverty. She has now expanded her project and is working with four movements in the Francophone Africa region.
In 2022 – 2023, Albertine organized a conference for students, exploring the environmental, social, economic and religious factors that perpetuate student poverty.
In 2023 – 2024, her project evolved to focus on student entrepreneurship. As a student – and at present – Albertine makes extra income through entrepreneurial activities including beekeeping and market gardening. Yet, she reports that many university students mock such activities and believe that informal entrepreneurship is for the less educated. Albertine led an action-research project involving an entrepreneur training scheme, which included evangelical Christians, Catholics and Muslim students.
One of her findings was that evangelical students dropped out of the training in greater numbers than students from other religious backgrounds. Through discussion with leaders of other national movements in the region, she discovered that they have also observed that Christian students are reluctant to get involved in entrepreneurship. The protestant work ethic has long been considered an important force behind the emergence of modern capitalism, as outlined by German economist and sociologist Max Weber. Yet in Francophone Africa, this does not seem to be a reality.
In 2024 – 2025, Albertine will conduct a study on why evangelical Christians in French-speaking Africa appear to be passive or reluctant towards engaging in entrepreneurship. This will involve a literature review and surveys of students, and will explore culture, colonization, the education system, barriers to doing business and students’ understanding of theological concepts of work, wealth and grace. Her findings will inform the development of an entrepreneur training curriculum which will be distributed across IFES movements in the Francophone Africa region.
She will partner with IFES movements in Senegal, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso to establish an entrepreneur training scheme. Students will receive training, experience and mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, equipping them to start self-sustaining business ventures.
— Dr Albertine Bayompe Kabou holds a PhD in economics and is a lecturer at Université Assane SECK de Ziguinchor in Senegal.
Watch a 2-minute video about Albertine’s project from 2022:
Harnessing science and theology to tackle student mental health
In Francophone Africa, there are many pressures that contribute to mental health problems among university students: poverty, unemployment, experiences of conflict, displacement and human rights violations, as well as divisions among students due to socio-economic, ethnic and religious differences.
Mental health has taken its toll on students yet there is little awareness about it. In 2022, graduate student Nina Ble Toualy conducted a pilot survey of students in Côte d’Ivoire and found that 80 percent of them had at least one symptom of a mental health struggle without realizing it.
In 2022 – 2023, Nina collaborated with GBUCI, the IFES movement in Côte d’Ivoire, on a project that brought together biblical and scientific perspectives to promote good mental health among students at her university. She conducted a study to better understand the situation; organized awareness-raising seminars and a conference; and partnered with mental health NGOs to provide free mental health support to students. Alongside this professional support, Nina trained Christian student volunteers to provide peer support and lead Bible studies and debates about mental health.
In 2023 – 2024, Nina continued her project in collaboration with two other LCI Catalysts: Eustache Hounyeme and Geneviève Guei. She conducted a study on how genetic and environmental factors contribute to anxiety and depression among students. She continued to work with professionals and student volunteers to provide free mental health support to students, and she organized a conference in which various groups came together to discuss how to foster a culture of prevention on campus.
In 2024 – 2025, Nina is continuing her project, now collaborating with an LCI Catalyst from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sarah Obotela, a sociology graduate student. They will work together on a study comparing the mental health situation of students in IFES movements in the Francophone Africa region that have mental health programs (Côte d’Ivoire and the DRC) and seven movements that do not. The results will be published in a scholarly article.
On a regional level, Nina and Sarah will use their findings to create a mental health guide, lead trainings, and distribute videos and podcasts to equip staff and Christian academics connected to IFES movements in Francophone Africa to provide more informed pastoral care to students.
— Nina Ble Toualy is a doctoral student in criminology at The University of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Côte D’Ivoire. She is collaborating on the project with Tier Three Catalyst Sarah Obotela, a PhD student in sociology from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Watch a 3-minute video about Nina’s project from 2022: