Group Trains New Nigerian Leaders Advancing Gender Justice Nationwide
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Rise Up Together, a global non-profit working across Africa, South Asia and the United States, has completed training for its sixth Nigerian cohort, focusing on policy advocacy and gender justice.
Nearly 200 civil society leaders have now been trained across the FCT, Nasarawa, Anambra, Rivers and Kaduna since the programme began in 2014.
Speaking at the end of the week-long Abuja training on Saturday, Country Director Teresa Effa said the initiative equips local leaders to push for meaningful reforms for women and girls. “We work mainly around advocacy because when you talk with political leaders and policymakers, you’re trying to change the system so many more people can be impacted,” she said.
Ms Effa explained that participants undergo a structured “leader’s journey” involving advocacy training, seed grants, technical support and long-term mentorship. She noted that states are selected based on data showing clear gender-development gaps.
Highlighting earlier impact, she pointed to a graduate who helped Nasarawa State draft a girl-child policy in 2023, a move that unlocked federal and World Bank funding for school renovations and conditional cash transfers to boost girls’ enrolment.
Rise Up’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Jennifer Broome, said the 25 leaders in this cohort had been “particularly impressive,” adding that the organisation will return in 2026 for the seventh cohort. “We invest in leaders over the long term to help them sustain advocacy and influence policy,” she said.
Participant Oluwatimilehin Onafeso of WAAW Foundation said the training clarified the difference between service delivery and systemic advocacy. She said WAAW will now focus on strengthening STEM education for girls, emphasising infrastructure gaps in public schools.
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Oluwafunbi Bello 
Oluwatobi Adu 
Koko Maxwella 
Hussaini Ibrahim