Tabara Ndiaye is a programme consultant with New Field Foundation, working with rural women’s associations in French-speaking West Africa. She is a qualified teacher, and from 1999-2005 she acted as a founding member and communications officer for Usoforal, a group promoting women’s solidarity for peace in the Casamance region of Senegal where she grew up. She has also managed an education program for young students on family planning and reproductive health, and worked with students on civic action projects to identify and influence a public policy  within their communities