What began in 2012 as a small initiative operating from a shop in Ekiti State has grown into a women-led organisation working across women’s rights, adolescent health, gender-based violence, economic empowerment and democratic participation.
At the centre of that journey is Abimbola Aladejare-Salako, founder and Executive Director of the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative, NIGAWD, which recently marked its 14th anniversary with a renewed commitment to expanding its work for women, girls and young people.
Aladejare-Salako founded NIGAWD on September 17, 2012, describing the organisation’s beginnings as a step of faith following a vision she had received earlier that year. Fourteen years later, the organisation has developed a broad portfolio spanning women’s economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence prevention, the elimination of female genital mutilation, policy advocacy, electoral integrity and youth development.
One of the organisation’s distinguishing features has been its willingness to combine grassroots organising with technology.
Through its “When Girls Talk” and “When Boys Konnet” programmes, NIGAWD says it has reached more than 10,000 adolescents with information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. It has also introduced AskNIVI, a WhatsApp-enabled platform that provides SRHR information, alongside social media campaigns and digital advocacy initiatives.
That digital approach reflects a changing environment for organisations working with young people. Information about health, relationships and rights increasingly reaches adolescents through their phones, making digital platforms an important complement to traditional community-based interventions.
NIGAWD’s work, however, extends well beyond digital engagement.
The organisation has supported vulnerable children and women, including efforts to rescue street children and return teenage mothers to school. It has also implemented economic empowerment initiatives for widows and orphans, with the aim of helping beneficiaries build greater financial independence.
Its work on harmful cultural practices has also taken Aladejare-Salako beyond Nigeria. She served as an African Union Saleema Youth Ambassador for West Africa and as an End FGM Ambassador, participating in advocacy and policy discussions across several African countries. She also represented the campaign against female genital mutilation at the United States’ first End FGM Summit in Washington in 2016.
Gender-based violence has been another major area of focus. NIGAWD works on prevention and survivor support while also advocating for more responsible ways of telling survivors’ stories.
At Expo 2020 Dubai, Aladejare-Salako advocated for a “Do No Harm” approach to reporting and communicating stories involving survivors of gender-based violence, arguing that advocacy should not come at the expense of survivors’ dignity.
The organisation has also connected women’s empowerment with democratic participation.
Through initiatives including Vote Not Fight – Election No Be War and YERP Naija, NIGAWD has promoted peaceful elections and youth participation across Nigeria’s South-West states. More recently, it worked on the Osun State Governorship Election Situation Room, including data integration and training for legal assessors on electoral compliance.
For NIGAWD, these areas are interconnected. Women’s rights, economic independence, access to health information and meaningful participation in public life all influence whether women and girls can exercise greater control over their futures.
The organisation’s 14-year journey also illustrates how a nonprofit can evolve as the needs of the communities it serves change. What began as a grassroots initiative has expanded into a model combining community programmes, advocacy, policy engagement and digital tools.
Aladejare-Salako has attributed that growth to the people and partnerships that have supported the organisation over the years. NIGAWD says its first institutional funding came through the European Union’s 10th European Development Fund via UNDP/UNODC.
Looking ahead, the organisation says it intends to deepen its work around gender-based violence, harmful social norms, digital inequality and youth participation, while continuing its broader work to strengthen opportunities and rights for women and girls.
Reflecting on the organisation’s beginnings, Aladejare-Salako said she could not have known whether the vision would survive beyond its early years. Fourteen years later, NIGAWD has become a platform through which she and her team continue to work on issues affecting women, girls and young people across Nigeria and beyond.
The story of NIGAWD is therefore not only about an organisation reaching another anniversary. It is about what can happen when a founder takes a small idea, builds around the needs of the people she wants to serve, and keeps adapting the model as those needs evolve.
From a small shop in Ekiti to a wider network working across women’s rights, health, governance and digital advocacy, Aladejare-Salako’s 14-year journey shows how grassroots action can grow into a sustained platform for social change.
