In communities across Nigeria, women and adolescent girls still live under the weight of systemic barriers. These barriers are woven from poverty, gender-based violence, cultural norms, inadequate healthcare, climate vulnerability, digital exclusion, and economic disempowerment. The quest of Inclusive Development for Women Foundation (IDWF) began as one woman’s deeply personal mission to dismantle these systemic barriers, not just for herself, but for generations to come.Born from lived experiences of loss and resilience, IDWF is a youth- and women-led movement that is unapologetically committed to creating a Nigeria where women and adolescent girls are healthy, educated, economically empowered, safe, climate-resilient, and digitally included.
Through strategic and innovative programs, targeted advocacy, and evidence-based interventions, we work across nine (9) thematic areas: Health and Wellbeing, Education, Economic Empowerment, Gender-Based Violence, AI and Digital Divide, Climate Change, Agriculture, Political Participation and Peace and Security. Our approach is intersectional, rights-based, and community-driven, rooted in the belief that when women thrive, entire societies rise. IDWF is not just an organisation. It is a mission and movement in motion. A mission and movement that has already touched and transformed the lives of women, adolescent girls, and youths across the 36 states of the Nigerian federation through evidence-based and multi-sectoral programming, capacity building and mentorship initiatives, rights-based advocacy and policy engagement, and community-led projects. We are on this quest with urgency because every day without change means another life cut short, another girl’s future stolen. And so, we invite partners, donors, and stakeholders to join us, not as spectators, but as allies in building a future where inclusion is not an aspiration but a lived reality for women and girls in Nigeria.
My journey to founding IDWF was not an academic exercise or a boardroom idea. It was birthed from grief, injustice, and a burning refusal to accept the status quo. I lost my sister-in-law and her newborn to maternal mortality, preventable deaths caused by inaccessible healthcare. I lost my younger sister and father to illnesses made deadly by poverty. My mother and grandmother lived through the cycles of early marriage, lack of education, poverty and hardship. These are cycles enforced by deeply entrenched gender norms.
These were not isolated tragedies. They were symptoms of a system that routinely fails women and girls. For years, I carried the weight of these losses, but I also carried a determination: if the system would not change for us, we would build a new one. And so, IDWF was born not as charity, but as a movement for structural and systemic change. Every project we run, every woman we empower, every adolescent girl we mentor is a direct challenge to the systems that failed me, my family and countless others. This is more than my story, it’s the story of every woman who has been told her life is worth less, and of every community ready to stand up and say, “No more.”
To dismantle systemic barriers limiting women and girls in Nigeria, amplify their voices, and empower them with opportunities to live and lead with dignity
We envision a Nigeria where every woman and girl regardless of ethnicity, religion, disability, age, location, or marital status lives with dignity, realises her full potential, and thrives free from systemic barriers and discrimination.
At Inclusive Development for Women Foundation (IDWF), our work is grounded in values that reflect who we are, what we stand for, and the kind of change we are committed to making. These values guide every decision, partnership, and program we pursue:
We focus on nine (9) thematic areas that are critical to the holistic empowerment and well-being of women and girls in Nigeria. These are:
We promote and improve access to quality healthcare services, particularly in the areas of Mental health, Menstruation, WASH, Maternal and Child health, Reproductive Tract Infections, and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHRs) thereby ending preventable deaths.
We campaign to end all forms of violence against women and girls including female genital mutilation (FGM),early and forced marriage and Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). Our work empowers victims/survivors to speak out, heal, and reclaim their lives. Beyond prevention, we actively support survivors by connecting them to legal aid, psychosocial support, and referral systems. We help them seek and obtain justice through access to pro bono legal services (legal help provided completely free of charge by our partners who are lawyers and legal aid organizations), case tracking, and rights education, ensuring they are not silenced, ignored, or retraumatized by the very systems meant to protect them. At IDWF, we believe that justice is not optional or a privilege it is a right. No woman or girl in Nigeria should be denied that right because of poverty, fear, or lack of access.
We work to increase women farmers’ access to land, resources, markets, and technology and also dismantle the structural barriers that prevent women from owning land, accessing farm inputs, resources, markets, technology and participating in agricultural value chains business. IDWF equips women with climate-smart agricultural training and connects them to credit, markets, and agribusiness opportunities. We believe that when women thrive in agriculture, communities move closer to food security and economic justice.
We advocate for access to quality education and inclusive learning opportunities for all women and girls, including those with disabilities. Our work focuses on decreasing the number of out-of-school girls, and promoting girl-child education, literacy, self-awareness, and capacity building. By doing so, we enable informed decision-making, work to reduce early and child marriages in Nigeria.Through advocacy, we challenge systems, cultures, beliefs that perpetuate inequality, exclusion and harmful practices in Nigeria.
We work to bridge the digital divide by providing women and adolescent girls in Nigeria access to digital literacy, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and online safety skills to thrive in the modern economy.
We recognize that conflict, displacement, and insecurity disproportionately affect women and girls exposing them to gender based violence, poverty, and long-term vulnerability. At IDWF, we are committed to building inclusive peace by ensuring that women and girls are not just protected in times of crisis, but are included as key agents of peacebuilding and recovery. We work to equip women and girls with conflict resolution, dialogue, and mediation skills, promote women’s participation in peacebuilding efforts, and humanitarian response, Protect displaced women and girls in IDP camps and conflict-affected areas, advocate for gender-responsive early warning systems and protection services.
We enhance women’s economic participation, financial inclusion, and entrepreneurship opportunities by equipping women with vocational, entrepreneurial, and financial skills to break the cycle of poverty, promote sustainable economic independence and financial security
We promote climate resilience and adaptation strategies, with a focus on women and girls who are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and climate shocks. Our approach empowers them with the knowledge, resources, and skills to adopt climate-smart practices, engage in sustainable livelihoods, and take leadership roles in environmental stewardship. Through advocacy, capacity building, and community-driven solutions, we help women and girls become active agents in protecting ecosystems, mitigating climate risks, and building sustainable futures for their communities.
We advocate for the political participation and representation of women, including women with disabilities in governance, elections, and electoral processes in Nigeria. We empower women from all backgrounds especially those from marginalized and vulnerable groups to engage meaningfully in politics through voter education, leadership training and capacity building, advocacy, and partnerships with electoral institutions. We promote inclusive governance and ensure that women’s voices influence policies and systems that shape their lives.
Our approach is intersectional, rights-based, and community-driven rooted in the belief that when women thrive, entire societies rise.
At Inclusive Development for Women Foundation (IDWF), Our work prioritizes women and girls across Nigeria and we focus on those most often left behind due to poverty, conflict, disability, displacement, early marriage, lack of education, and gender-based discrimination.
IDWF’s work is guided by a single aim: move from short-term aid to lasting change and we believe that sustainable change, impact and development begins at the root by addressing the systemic, cultural, and institutional barriers that limit the potential of women and girls in Nigeria. Our approach is holistic, intersectional, rights-based and community-driven, rooted in the belief that when women thrive, entire societies rise. We don’t just provide interventions; we build systems, shift mindsets, and create pathways for long-term empowerment.
Lived-experience leadership:
Our programs and projects are designed and led by women, youth and adolescent girls who have lived the issues we tackle. This keeps solutions grounded, relevant, and credible.
Rights-based advocacy and policy engagement:
We combine grassroots evidence with policy advocacy working with traditional leaders, government actors, women groups and parliamentarians to translate community needs into budgets, laws, and service delivery.
Evidence-based programming and adaptive learning:
All programs begin with needs assessments and baselines. We use participatory monitoring and evaluation to iterate, scale what works, and share learning with partners.
Community-led design and ownership:
We ask, listen, and co-create with communities especially women, adolescent girls (with and without disabilities), and youth so interventions reflect local priorities and are sustained by local actors.
We use low-cost digital tools, platforms and innovative tech ideas to extend reach, collect real-time community data, and improve accountability and referral pathways.
We form equitable partnerships with government, civil society organizations (including OPDs), donors, faith and traditional leaders, academia, and the private sector to multiply impact and resources.
We prioritize cost-effective, scalable models (training-of-trainers, local partnerships, social-enterprise linkages) so pilot initiatives become institutionalized solutions.
Multi-sectoral integration:
Problems are interconnected. We intentionally link health, education, economic empowerment, digital inclusion, GBV prevention, agriculture, climate resilience, and political participation so interventions reinforce one another.
Capacity building and mentorship:
From leadership training to digital and vocational skills, we invest in practical, market-relevant capacities and mentorship that move people into sustainable livelihoods and leadership roles.
PSEAH prevention, child protection, disability inclusion, and gender-responsive design are integrated into staff training, program, and project cycles.
Inclusive Development for Women Foundation (IDWF) is a force in the movement for gender equity, social justice, and inclusive development across Nigeria. Our reach already spans urban, rural, underserved, hard to reach and displaced communities through a fast-growing network of community-based volunteers, grassroots champions, and strategic partnerships. We work actively in underserved and hard to reach rural communities, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, and low-income urban areas reaching women and girls who are most often left behind in all six geopolitical zones and Nigerian states through local networks and implementing partners. IDWF is deeply embedded in national and local ecosystems through:
We also maintain working relationships with:
As our projects scale IDWF has become a national reference point for evidence-based, and community-driven programming that prioritizes inclusion, dignity, and justice. Our vision is clear: to build a nationwide ecosystem of change where every woman and girl, regardless of status or location, has access to tools, services, rights, and opportunities to thrive.
IDWF Consortium Partners
At Inclusive Development for Women Foundation (IDWF), we believe that sustainable change happens through collaboration and partnership. That is why we are building a strong and diverse consortium of partners who share our commitment to equity, justice, and inclusive development for women and girls in Nigeria. Our consortium partners includes:
Our consortium is more than a group of collaborators and partners. It is a dynamic ecosystem of problem solvers, system shapers, changemakers and community builders united by the conviction that no woman or girl should be left behind. As we grow, we are actively seeking more strategic national and international partners who wish to join this movement and be part of something transformative.
When adolescents girls are educated and cared for, they grow into empowered women (adults) who contribute to breaking cycles of poverty, violence, and inequality.
A girl child who learns today becomes a leader who transforms tomorrow.
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