NAOWA President Appointed Strategic Ambassador for UNESCO REF SIP‑ALPHA

NAOWA President Accepts Appointment as Strategic Ambassador for UNESCO REF SIP-ALPHA

The DispatchUNESCO REF Media Centre · EISSN 3156-55577 min read

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Institutional Partnership

Dr Safiyyah Hassan Shaibu, 25th President of the Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA), brings six decades of grassroots presence into the UNESCO REF Strategic Intervention Programmes for Accelerated Learning and Productive Human Asset (SIP-ALPHA), aligned with the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Abuja, Nigeria | 14 August 2026 | Ref: UNESCO REF/MEDIA/2026/NAOWA SIP ALPHA AMB 01

ABUJA, Nigeria, 14 August 2026. The Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF) announces that Dr Safiyyah Hassan Shaibu, 25th President of the Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA) and wife of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has formally accepted her nomination as Strategic Ambassador for the UNESCO REF Strategic Intervention Programmes for Accelerated Learning and Productive Human Asset (SIP-ALPHA) in Nigeria.

Global alignmentAlignement mondialThe global commitments this story advances. Open to see how.

SDG1
SDG 1, No Poverty
ProvisionTarget 1.4: equal rights to economic resources for the poor and vulnerable
How the appointment respondsExtends SIP-ALPHA into military communities and garrison towns
SDG2
SDG 2, Zero Hunger
ProvisionTarget 2.3: double the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women
How the appointment respondsLeads the Young Women in Agriculture campaign for 12 million women
SDG4
SDG 4, Quality Education
ProvisionTargets 4.1 and 4.4: quality schooling and relevant skills for youth
How the appointment respondsBuilds on NAOWA schools, teacher training and youth skills programmes
SDG5
SDG 5, Gender Equality
ProvisionTarget 5.5: women’s full participation and leadership
How the appointment respondsPlaces women’s leadership at the head of national programme delivery
SDG8
SDG 8, Decent Work
ProvisionTarget 8.6: reduce youth not in employment, education or training
How the appointment respondsYouth advancement and skills acquisition across the Federation
SDG17
SDG 17, Partnerships
ProvisionTarget 17.17: effective public and civil society partnerships
How the appointment respondsA covenant between UNESCO REF and NAOWA
UNSC
UN Security Council Resolution 1325
ProvisionWomen, Peace and Security: women’s role in peacebuilding and community resilience
How the appointment respondsMobilises the wives and families of the military as agents of development and stability
AU
African Union Agenda 2063
ProvisionAspiration 6: development driven by the potential of African women and youth
How the appointment respondsCited by Dr Shaibu in her letter of acceptance
MP
Maputo Protocol
ProvisionArticle 15: right to food security; Article 13: economic and social welfare rights
How the appointment respondsWomen-led food security and economic empowerment
NG
Renewed Hope Agenda, Federal Government of Nigeria
ProvisionFood security, human capital and inclusive growth
How the appointment respondsDelivery through all 774 local government areas

The acceptance was conveyed by official correspondence dated 28 July 2026, under NAOWA reference NAOWA/NAT/G1/300/63. It is a considered institutional decision, taken, in Dr Shaibu’s own words, after having “carefully considered the objectives, scope and strategic vision of the SIP-ALPHA Initiative.”

The woman behind the mandate

La femme derrière le mandat

At her first Executive Meeting as 25th President of NAOWA, held in Abuja in February 2026, Dr Shaibu set out the principle that has guided her tenure: “When a woman is empowered, a family is strengthened; when families are stable, the military community is stronger.” She reminded members that the association was built on service and sacrifice, and that its decisions would affect thousands of families across formations and commands nationwide.

Her record since then reflects that conviction. Under her leadership, NAOWA has inaugurated new schools in Zaria, Badagry and at Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks in Abuja, begun construction of primary and secondary schools at Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks, and organised the 2026 NAOWA 21st Century Teacher Transformation Training. Its Youth Empowerment Project has trained 394 young people in ICT and fashion design, and more than 15,000 relief packages have reached members, widows and places of worship.

The institution she leads

L’institution qu’elle dirige

NAOWA began in the 1950s as the Army Wives Association and took its present name in 1963. For more than six decades it has operated community health centres, schools, day-care centres, skills acquisition and vocational centres and the Girl Child Education Programme, across a network that follows the Nigerian Army into garrison towns throughout the Federation.

It reaches communities where institutional presence is often thin, and it does so as a non-governmental organisation that receives no subvention from federal or state government. Scholars of Nigerian civil society have described it as the most powerful women’s organisation in the country.

The home front and the national mandate

Le front intérieur et le mandat national

Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu was appointed Chief of Army Staff by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 30 October 2025. A field commander whose career spans counter-insurgency operations in the North East, he received the Service and Sacrifice Award at the 2026 Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day ceremony at the State House, Abuja.

Behind every theatre of operations is a home front, and behind every soldier is a family sustained by sacrifice. Dr Shaibu has lived that reality. Her decision to commit NAOWA’s network to a development framework aligned with the United Nations agenda carries the lived experience of military families across the Federation.

A convergence of two institutions

La convergence de deux institutions

The road to the appointment began on 18 May 2026, when the President of UNESCO REF, Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, held a high-level consultative engagement with Dr Shaibu at NAOWA headquarters in Abuja. The meeting examined institutional pathways for advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria through the SIP-ALPHA framework.

Two institutions met. One brought seventeen years of multi-sectoral development architecture, through which, according to UNESCO REF, 1.2 million Nigerian youths have been mobilised. The other brought six decades of grassroots presence and community trust earned through consistent service. Each recognised in the other what neither possessed alone. On 28 July 2026, the conversation became a formal institutional covenant.

In her own words

Dans ses propres mots

“Having carefully considered the objectives, scope and strategic vision of the SIP-ALPHA Initiative, particularly its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063, I further recognise its strong emphasis on sustainable development, food security, education, youth advancement, health resilience and community empowerment. It is therefore with great pleasure that I formally accept this nomination and appointment as Strategic Ambassador for SIP-ALPHA.

I look forward to collaborating closely with UNESCO REF, development partners and other relevant stakeholders in achieving the objectives of SIP-ALPHA for the benefit of our nation and future generations.”

Dr Safiyyah Hassan Shaibu, 25th President, Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association, Abuja, 28 July 2026

The UNESCO REF President responds

La réponse du Président de l’UNESCO REF

“Dr Safiyyah Hassan Shaibu’s formal acceptance of this nomination is one of the most consequential institutional developments in UNESCO REF’s seventeen-year history. NAOWA does not lend its name; it lends its capacity, its networks and its communities. As Strategic Ambassador for SIP-ALPHA, she brings to our framework the institutional discipline of an organisation forged in service, the grassroots reach of a network that no programme map can fully capture, and the moral authority of women’s leadership at its most credible.

Nigeria’s development cannot be delivered from Abuja alone. It must be assembled, community by community, in every barracks, every garrison town and every local government area of this Federation. That assembly now has a new and formidable architect.”

Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, President, UNESCO REF

What the appointment means

La portée de la nomination

SIP-ALPHA is UNESCO REF’s most ambitious institutional architecture: a governance innovation that moves development delivery from siloed programmes to an integrated, systems-based approach across education, agriculture, health resilience, youth empowerment and sustainable community development.

As Strategic Ambassador, Dr Shaibu brings NAOWA’s national footprint into SIP-ALPHA’s implementation architecture, with the aim of accelerating delivery across all 774 local government areas of the Federation. Her mandate already extends to two flagship programmes:

Young Women in Agriculture (YWA). A national mobilisation campaign targeting 12 million young women in agriculture (read more). Food security is a pressing national priority: the Cadre Harmonisé analysis projected that about 34.7 million Nigerians would face food insecurity in the June to August 2026 lean season.
The VOICE Initiative. UNESCO REF’s professional advancement programme for women with disabilities, launched on 1 October 2026 with the Osun State Government as first pilot state. Dr Shaibu will lead its national upscaling to 120,000 women across the six geopolitical zones and its extension across Africa (read more).

The contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals is direct. The deeper contribution is the trust of a nation’s military families, now extended into the architecture of its development future.

ENDS

Notes to editorsNotes aux rédactions

About SIP-ALPHA. The Strategic Intervention Programmes for Accelerated Learning and Productive Human Asset (SIP-ALPHA) is UNESCO REF’s integrated development framework, delivering education, agriculture, health resilience, youth empowerment and community development programmes in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

About NAOWA. The Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in the 1950s and constituted under its present name in 1963. It operates schools, community health centres, skills acquisition centres and welfare programmes for military families and host communities across Nigeria.

About UNESCO REF. The Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF) works to strengthen human and institutional capacity across Nigeria and Africa through education, research and professional development.

Media enquiries. UNESCO REF Media Centre, [email protected]

Ref: UNESCO REF/MEDIA/2026/NAOWA SIP ALPHA AMB 01

SourcesSources

The Needful Now: Nigeria Police and Youth Special Report

The Needful Now: How Nigeria Built a Covenant Between Its Badge and Its Youth

The DispatchUNESCO REF Media Centre · EISSN 3156-55578 min read

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Special Report | Lead Investigation

From the streets of August 2024 to the halls of Louis Edet House: an investigation into how a country under strain chose dialogue over confrontation, and how the UNESCO REF Nigeria Police Youths Summit turned public anger into a structured partnership between Nigeria’s security institutions and its young citizens.

UNESCO REF Media Centre | The Dispatch, Lead Investigation Series | Abuja, Nigeria | 12 August 2024, revised July 2026

Special Report. This is a summary of the Lead Investigation. Read the complete report, Annex A of the UNESCO REF Special Reports.

ABUJA, Nigeria. In the space of fourteen months, Nigeria passed from economic shock to street protest to something few had predicted: a national conversation between its police and its young people. This report examines the civic demands that were raised, the institutional responses that followed and the accountability framework now required to honour what was promised. It traces the sequence of events that culminated on 12 August 2024, International Youth Day, in the UNESCO REF Nigeria Police Youths Summit.

Global alignmentAlignement mondialThe global commitments this story advances. Open to see how.

SDG16
SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (primary)
ProvisionTarget 16.6: accountable institutions; Target 16.7: inclusive, participatory decision-making
How the Summit respondsYouth advisory councils, independent oversight and public reporting
UNSC
UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015)
ProvisionYouth, Peace and Security: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships
How the Summit respondsYoung people treated as partners in national security
UNSC
UN Security Council Resolution 2419 (2018)
ProvisionRole of youth in negotiating and implementing peace
How the Summit respondsYouth voice built into a standing dialogue mechanism
SDG8
SDG 8, Decent Work
ProvisionTarget 8.6: youth not in employment, education or training
How the Summit respondsEconomic empowerment treated as a security strategy
SDG17
SDG 17, Partnerships
ProvisionTarget 17.17: public and civil society partnerships
How the Summit respondsA partnership between the Nigeria Police Force and UNESCO REF
AYC
African Youth Charter
ProvisionYouth participation in decision-making
How the Summit respondsStructured dialogue between youth and the Force
AU
African Union Agenda 2063
ProvisionAspiration 6: development driven by the potential of African youth
How the Summit respondsYouth at the centre of the national security conversation
IYD
United Nations International Youth Day
ProvisionAnnual observance on 12 August
How the Summit respondsSummit convened on International Youth Day 2024

“The UNESCO REF Nigeria Police Youths Summit is not merely an event, but a national platform for reconciliation and partnership, a covenant between the Police and our youth to build trust, respect, and shared responsibility.”

Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, President, UNESCO REF, Louis Edet House, Abuja

Three words at Eagle Square

Trois mots sur Eagle Square

The story begins on the morning of 29 May 2023, at Eagle Square, Abuja. In his inaugural address, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the end of the petrol subsidy in three words: “Subsidy is gone.” Within days, pump prices multiplied, and the subsequent floating of the naira added a currency shock to a fuel shock.

For millions of households, the effect was immediate: higher transport fares, higher food prices and shrinking incomes. Young Nigerians, facing rising costs for data, transport and starting a business, felt the pressure most acutely.

The spiral

La spirale

Over the months that followed, inflation climbed above 33 per cent, with food prices rising faster still. The Special Report records fourteen months of sustained pressure on households, in which the frustrations of the young accumulated without a channel through which they could be heard by the institutions of the State.

An answer in the fields

Une réponse dans les champs

Even before the streets erupted, UNESCO REF was advancing a structural response. In May and June 2024, Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan and Dr Mrs Elizabeth Egbetokun, National Advocate of the Young Women in Agriculture programme and National President of the Police Officers’ Wives Association, undertook an advocacy tour of the South West, presenting the agricultural value chain as a durable path to livelihoods for young Nigerians.

“The agricultural value chain is not a fallback. It is the structural answer to a structural problem.”

Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, June 2024

Ten days in August

Dix jours d’août

On 1 August 2024, young Nigerians took to the streets under the banner #EndBadGovernance. For ten days, protests unfolded in cities across the Federation, from Lagos and Abuja to Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Ibadan, Owerri and Benin City. The Special Report records loss of life, citing Amnesty International, and heavy economic losses at the height of the unrest.

The Honourable Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, acknowledged that the protests carried genuine grievances, even as some sought to exploit them. The question before the nation was whether those grievances would be met with force alone, or with a hearing.

A conversation at Louis Edet House

Une conversation à Louis Edet House

The answer began with an unscheduled conversation. While the protests were still under way, the President of UNESCO REF paid a working visit to Louis Edet House, the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force on Shehu Shagari Way, Abuja, where he met the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi. From that meeting came an agreement to convene a national summit of youth and police on 12 August 2024, International Youth Day.

“We are not here today because of the protests of August.”

Muyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer

The remark captured an important truth: the protests had made the need visible, but the need itself was long-standing. The full substance of the Louis Edet House conversation has not been published.

The Summit

Le Sommet

Element	Detail
Date	12 August 2024, United Nations International Youth Day
Venue	Nigeria Police Force Resource Centre, Abuja
Convenors	UNESCO REF and the Nigeria Police Force
Delegates	More than 400, from all 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory
Principal participants	Inspector-General of Police, Dr Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM; Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of Youth Development, representing President Tinubu; Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, Minister of Police Affairs; Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, guest keynote
Format	Addresses, an open dialogue with the Inspector-General and thematic breakout sessions

The gathering opened with performances by members of the National Youth Service Corps and continued through a full day of engagement.

On the record

Les déclarations officielles

“The Nigeria Police Force is fully committed to protecting the rights and welfare of our youths.”

Dr Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Inspector-General of Police

“There is a trust gap between the security agencies and the youth.”

Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, Minister of Police Affairs

“Trust is not announced. It is demonstrated. Over time.”

Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN

“This summit is not a courtesy gathering.”

Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of Youth Development

Delivering the message of President Tinubu, Dr Ibrahim set out commitments under the youth pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda: NYSC enterprise funding of up to N10 million per beneficiary, support for 5,000 graduate ventures, the National Youth Skills Programme, a commitment to 30 per cent youth inclusion and a planned Young Leaders Institute.

The dialogue

Le dialogue

The most consequential hour of the day was unscripted. Delegates questioned the Inspector-General directly. A delegate from Lagos asked about the policing of protests; the Inspector-General replied that the role of the police is to manage protests, not to prevent them. A delegate from Abuja raised misconduct; he acknowledged it and said his administration was removing corrupt officers. Halimat Chagua, a delegate from the North East, asked about the security of farmers; he pointed to dedicated farm patrols during planting and harvest seasons.

Not every delegate left satisfied, and the Special Report says so. But the exchange itself, conducted in public between the head of the Force and the young people it serves, marked a departure. Breakout sessions on crime prevention, conflict resolution, social media engagement and community policing turned the exchange into proposals.

The Abuja Communique and the accountability framework

Le Communiqué d’Abuja et le cadre de redevabilité

The Summit closed with Abuja Communique No. 01 and five recommendations. The Special Report sets out the framework against which their implementation should be judged:

Recommendation	What implementation looks like
1. Youth advisory councils	Councils at federal, State and local levels with real influence on security policy, beginning with State pilots
2. Secure intelligence networks	Technology-enabled channels for community intelligence, with anonymity, encryption and due process
3. Trust through transparency	Independent oversight, accessible complaint procedures and public reporting
4. Economic empowerment as security	Skills, jobs and enterprise support in high-risk communities
5. Continuous dialogue	Quarterly national convenings and regular regional dialogues

“Security in Nigeria is not achieved by force alone.”

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser

“Every generation of Nigerian youth has been asked to wait.”

Ibrahim Danladi, delegate, Borno State

Why it matters

Les enjeux

The relationship between young people and the institutions charged with their security is a question of national stability. A 2023 study by the United Nations Development Programme found that about a quarter of voluntary recruits to violent extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa cited job opportunities as their main reason for joining. Trust, inclusion and economic opportunity for the young are therefore central to security policy, not peripheral to it.

That is the covenant the title of this report describes: an undertaking by the badge to listen and to answer, and by the youth to engage and to build. Its value will be measured not by the day on which it was made, but by the years in which it is kept.

Read the full investigation

Lire l’enquête complète

This summary draws on the Lead Investigation published by the UNESCO REF Media Centre. Readers are warmly invited to read the complete account, with its chronology, data and full record of the dialogue:

The Special Report. The Needful Now, Annex A, UNESCO REF Special Reports.
The Report of Events. UNESCO REF Nigeria Police Youths Summit.

Read the Special Report. The complete investigation is available at the UNESCO REF Media Centre: unesco-ref.org/special-reports.

ENDS

Notes to editorsNotes aux rédactions

About the Special Reports. The UNESCO REF Special Reports are in-depth investigations published by the UNESCO REF Media Centre. “The Needful Now” is Annex A of the series, in the National Security strand of the Lead Investigation Series. Coordination: Ibrahim Danladi. Media and Outreach: Ms Bupwatda.

Media enquiries. UNESCO REF Media Centre, [email protected]

SourcesSources

UNESCO REF Pilots Modular Water Purification in Nigeria

UNESCO REF, Nigerian Diaspora and US Technology Partner Pilot Modular Water Purification System under SIP-ALPHA Category 11

The DispatchUNESCO REF Media Centre · EISSN 3156-55575 min read

UNESCO REF Media Centre | SIP-ALPHA Category 11

A solar-hybrid, modular purification system inaugurated at the NYSC Federal Capital Territory site is the first validation site of a national framework for safe drinking water, local skills and Nigerian-owned infrastructure.

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Abuja, Nigeria | 6 July 2026

ABUJA, Nigeria, 6 July 2026. In a development that places Nigerian ingenuity and diaspora expertise at the service of public health, the Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF) has inaugurated a modular water purification system developed in partnership with Nigerian professionals in the diaspora and a technology company based in the United States. Implemented under Category 11 of the UNESCO REF Strategic Intervention Programmes for Accelerated Learning and Productive Human Asset (SIP-ALPHA), the system is now undergoing operational and public health validation as the first site of a national framework for safe drinking water.

Global alignmentAlignement mondialThe global commitments this story advances. Open to see how.

SDG6
SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation (primary)
ProvisionTarget 6.1: universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water
How the pilot respondsModular purification at community water points, schools and health centres
SDG3
SDG 3, Good Health and Well-being
ProvisionTarget 3.3: combat water-borne diseases; Target 3.9: reduce illness from water contamination
How the pilot respondsTargets cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and diarrhoeal disease
SDG9
SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
ProvisionTarget 9.1: resilient infrastructure; Target 9.5: technological capability
How the pilot respondsLocally maintained, solar-hybrid infrastructure
SDG8
SDG 8, Decent Work
ProvisionTarget 8.6: youth employment and training
How the pilot respondsApprenticeships and local enterprise in assembly and spare parts
SDG7
SDG 7, Affordable and Clean Energy
ProvisionTarget 7.2: increase the share of renewable energy
How the pilot respondsSolar-hybrid power
SDG17
SDG 17, Partnerships
ProvisionTarget 17.6: technology cooperation; Target 17.17: partnerships
How the pilot respondsDiaspora, United States partner, government and evaluators in one governance structure
AU
African Union Agenda 2063
ProvisionAspiration 1: a prosperous Africa with access to safe water
How the pilot respondsNigerian-owned water infrastructure

The initiative rests on a conviction that has guided UNESCO REF since its establishment: that durable development is built, not donated. Rather than importing finished solutions, the programme combines international technology with Nigerian skills, Nigerian supply chains and Nigerian ownership, so that every installation strengthens national capability as well as public health.

A public health imperative

Un impératif de santé publique

Access to safe drinking water remains one of the defining development challenges of our time. According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, one in four people worldwide, some 2.1 billion, still lacked safely managed drinking water in 2024, and 106 million drew their water directly from untreated surface sources. The burden falls most heavily on children, women and the poorest communities, for whom waterborne disease remains a leading and wholly preventable cause of illness and death.

For Nigeria, the stakes are both human and economic. Outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and diarrhoeal disease strain health systems, keep children out of school and erode household incomes. A reliable, locally maintained supply of safe water is therefore not a single-sector intervention but a foundation for progress in health, education and productivity alike.

Why the National Youth Service Corps

Pourquoi le Service national de la jeunesse

The pilot is sited at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Federal Capital Territory site. The choice is deliberate. With a presence in all 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, the NYSC offers a ready national architecture through which a validated model can be replicated at scale, while its camps bring together young graduates who can themselves become ambassadors of safe water practice in the communities they serve.

Engineered for Nigerian conditions

Conçu pour les réalités nigérianes

The system has been designed to perform reliably where grid power is intermittent and specialist support is distant. Its treatment chain and operating model are as follows:

Multi-stage treatment. Sediment and carbon pre-filtration, followed by ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis, UV-C disinfection and covered storage.
Energy resilience. Solar-hybrid power, reducing operating cost and dependence on the national grid.
Remote monitoring. Continuous oversight of performance and water quality.
Local maintainability. Locally sourced components, modular cartridges and field-repair protocols that reduce reliance on external suppliers.
Deployment settings. Community water points, NYSC orientation camps, schools and primary health centres.

Evidence, skills and accountability

Données probantes, compétences et redevabilité

The programme is committed to measurable outcomes. Its public health objectives include reductions in cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and diarrhoeal disease, to be assessed through independent midline and endline evaluations. Results will be reported against recognised national and international standards before any claim of impact is made.

Equally central is the transfer of skills. A training curriculum developed with Nigerian technical institutes, supported by apprenticeships and local enterprise in assembly and spare parts, is intended to create a skilled workforce and a domestic supply chain that outlive the pilot itself.

Governance has been structured for transparency. A National Programme Office will operate under the oversight of an International Steering Committee comprising UNESCO REF, representatives of the Nigerian diaspora, the United States technology partner, relevant federal ministries and independent evaluators. Non-sensitive programme data will be published on public dashboards.

Voices of the partnership

Les voix du partenariat

“We are not delivering aid. We are building sovereign infrastructure.”

Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, President, UNESCO REF

“It must build capability, never dependency.”

Jonathan David, Chief Executive Officer, United States technology partner

Taken together, the two statements capture the philosophy of the programme: international partnership in service of national self-reliance.

An open invitation

Une invitation ouverte

UNESCO REF invites federal and state ministries, technical institutes, United Nations agencies, development finance institutions, researchers, the private sector and civil society to join the national framework as host sites, curriculum partners, data partners, financiers or independent validators. Each additional partner extends the reach of safe water to communities that have waited too long for it.

ENDS

Notes to editorsNotes aux rédactions

Media enquiries. UNESCO REF Media Centre, [email protected]

SourcesSources

1 in 4 people globally still lack access to safe drinking water, WHO and UNICEF, 26 August 2025

UNESCO REF 2026 Call for Volunteers

UNESCO REF Call for Volunteers 2026: Join a Network of Change-Makers Shaping Nigeria’s Future

The DispatchUNESCO REF Media Centre · EISSN 3156-55573 min read

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Call for Volunteers

UNESCO REF invited qualified applicants worldwide to volunteer their expertise to its programmes, with remote roles available and selected assignments requiring presence in Nigeria.

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Abuja, Nigeria | 12 June 2026

This call is now closed. Applications ran from 12 June to 12 September 2026. Details of future calls will be published on the Volunteering page.

ABUJA, Nigeria, 12 June 2026. The Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF) has opened its 2026 Call for Volunteers, inviting accomplished professionals, scholars and emerging leaders from Nigeria, the diaspora and the wider international community to place their expertise at the service of the nation’s development. Successful applicants will join a distinguished network of change-makers contributing to education, agriculture, health, digital transformation and community development across the Federation.

Global alignmentAlignement mondialThe global commitments this story advances. Open to see how.

SDG17
SDG 17, Partnerships (primary)
ProvisionTarget 17.17: effective public, private and civil society partnerships
How the call respondsBrings global expertise into Nigerian programmes
UNGA
UN General Assembly resolution 70/129 (2015)
ProvisionIntegrating volunteering into the 2030 Agenda
How the call respondsStructured volunteer engagement aligned with the SDGs
SDG4
SDG 4 and SDG 8
ProvisionEducation, skills and decent work
How the call respondsVolunteers support training and employment programmes
AU
African Union Agenda 2063
ProvisionAspiration 6: people-driven development
How the call respondsEngages Africans at home and in the diaspora

Volunteerism has long been recognised by the United Nations as a powerful means of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 70/129, called for volunteering to be integrated into the planning and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. The UNESCO REF Call for Volunteers answers that call by connecting individual talent with institutional programmes that deliver measurable change in Nigerian communities.

The call at a glance

L’appel en bref

Application window. Opens 12 June 2026 and closes 12 September 2026.
Eligibility. Open to qualified applicants worldwide, regardless of nationality.
Modes of service. Remote options are available for selected roles; certain assignments require physical presence in Nigeria.
How to apply. Review the volunteering process on the Volunteering page and register through the application portal.

Where volunteers serve

Domaines d’engagement

Volunteers are deployed across UNESCO REF’s flagship programmes, among them Young Women in Agriculture, which is mobilising 12 million young women for food security; The VOICE Initiative, which prepares women with disabilities for employment in the digital economy; the Educational Financial Facility Scheme, which opens accredited international education to young Nigerians; and the ARDAI TIER I programme in artificial intelligence.

Roles span programme coordination, research and evaluation, curriculum and training, communications, partnerships and community mobilisation. Each assignment is designed to make use of the volunteer’s professional expertise and to leave a lasting contribution.

Why it matters

Les enjeux

Nigeria’s development challenges are matched by an extraordinary reservoir of talent, at home and in its global diaspora. Structured volunteering allows that talent to be mobilised quickly and purposefully, bringing specialist knowledge to communities and strengthening the institutions that serve them. For volunteers, it offers the opportunity to contribute to nationally significant programmes aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

ENDS

Notes to editorsNotes aux rédactions

Media enquiries. UNESCO REF Media Centre, [email protected]

SourcesSources

Child Labour in Nigeria: A Pipeline to Terrorism

Child Labour: Nigeria’s Forgotten Pipeline to Terrorism

The DispatchUNESCO REF Media Centre · EISSN 3156-55576 min read

UNESCO REF Media Centre | Opinion

Nearly 25 million Nigerian children are in child labour. Every one of them is a child diverted from the classroom, and some will be diverted into conflict. Protecting them is not only a moral duty. It is a matter of national security.

By Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan, President, UNESCO REF | Abuja | Democracy Day, 12 June

Democracy Day and a sobering reality

La Journée de la Démocratie face à une réalité préoccupante

Campaign illustration titled Stop Child Labour, Let Them Learn, Let Them Dream, showing children carrying heavy loads, breaking stones and welding beside a closed school — UNESCO REF CampaignStop Child Labour. Let them learn, let them dream.Campaign artwork for the World Day Against Child Labour. Each child pictured at work is a child absent from a classroom, and a future the nation cannot afford to lose.

Nigeria marks Democracy Day on the same date the world observes the World Day Against Child Labour. The coincidence should prompt reflection. Child labour is not merely an economic or social problem. It is a national security crisis.

Global alignmentAlignement mondialThe global commitments this story advances. Open to see how.

SDG8
SDG 8, Decent Work (primary)
ProvisionTarget 8.7: end child labour in all its forms by 2025, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers
What it demands of NigeriaRecover lost ground on a deadline the world has missed
SDG4
SDG 4, Quality Education
ProvisionTarget 4.1: free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education for all
What it demands of NigeriaReturn out-of-school children to learning
SDG16
SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
ProvisionTarget 16.2: end abuse, exploitation and all forms of violence against children
What it demands of NigeriaIntegrate child protection into security strategy
SDG1
SDG 1 and SDG 17
ProvisionSocial protection systems; multi-stakeholder partnerships
What it demands of NigeriaSafety nets for vulnerable families, and partnership with the international community
CRC
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
ProvisionArticle 32: protection from economic exploitation; Article 38: protection in armed conflict
What it demands of NigeriaEnforce both protections together
CRC
Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict
ProvisionProhibits the recruitment and use of children in hostilities
What it demands of NigeriaClose the recruitment pipeline
ILO
ILO Conventions 138 and 182
ProvisionMinimum age for employment; elimination of the worst forms of child labour
What it demands of NigeriaEnforce the conventions Nigeria has ratified
AU
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ProvisionArticle 15: child labour; Article 22: armed conflicts
What it demands of NigeriaRegional accountability for both
DCA
Durban Call to Action, 2022
ProvisionGlobal commitments from the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour
What it demands of NigeriaAccelerate action after the missed 2025 target
NG
Child’s Rights Act, 2003 (Nigeria)
ProvisionDomestic protection of children from exploitative labour
What it demands of NigeriaFull adoption and enforcement in every State

Children forced into labour, hawking on our streets, working in unsafe mines or performing hazardous tasks, are denied education and hope. Extremist groups exploit that vulnerability and turn poverty into a recruitment pipeline. Every child lost to labour is a child diverted from the classroom towards conflict, from innovation towards insurgency.

The scale of the crisis

L’ampleur de la crise

The figures leave no room for complacency. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 24.7 million Nigerian children aged 5 to 17, or 39.2 per cent of that age group, were in child labour in 2022. More than 14.3 million of them were engaged in hazardous work.

Measure	Nigeria	World
Children in child labour	24.7 million (39.2% of children aged 5 to 17, 2022)	Nearly 138 million (2024)
Children in hazardous work	14.4 million (22.9%, 2022)	Around 54 million (2024)
Regional share	Nigeria is part of sub-Saharan Africa	Around 87 million, nearly two-thirds of the global total, are in sub-Saharan Africa
Out-of-school children and youth	About 20 million

The world has also missed its own deadline. Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals committed every nation to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. The International Labour Organization and UNICEF confirmed in June 2025 that the target was not met.

From labour to recruitment

Du travail au recrutement

The link between deprivation and violence is not speculation. UNICEF reported in 2022 that more than 8,000 girls and boys had been recruited and used by armed groups in north-east Nigeria since 2009. A 2023 UNDP study of violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa found that about a quarter of voluntary recruits cited job opportunities as the main reason for joining.

A child who is out of school and working for survival is the child most exposed to that offer. Child labour and terrorist recruitment draw on the same conditions: poverty, exclusion and the absence of hope. They must be confronted together.

Nigeria’s greatest resource at risk

La plus grande ressource du Nigéria en péril

Nigeria’s greatest resource is not oil or minerals. It is its people. Child labour steadily erodes that foundation, diminishing the nation’s intellectual capital and weakening its capacity to compete in a knowledge-driven world. Protecting children today is therefore not only a moral duty but a strategic imperative for Nigeria’s survival and growth.

Democracy is built on participation, inclusion and opportunity. Child labour undermines each of these principles by silencing millions of voices before they can be heard. A democracy that fails to protect its children is a democracy at risk.

Linking the fight to global commitments

Une lutte inscrite dans les engagements mondiaux

Nigeria has already bound itself, in law and in international undertakings, to end child labour and to protect children from armed conflict. What is required now is implementation.

A call to leadership and partnership

Un appel au leadership et au partenariat

At this critical juncture, I call upon His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to bring fresh, integrated thinking to bear on this crisis by synchronising the work of three ministries: the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy; the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation; and the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. The instruments for a solution already lie within their mandates. Cultural renewal, public information and humanitarian outreach must work as one strategy rather than three.

This work must be entrusted to thinkers and specialists with the depth and the time to design durable strategy, and not left solely to administrators absorbed by the demands of daily operations. It must also be strengthened by cooperation between the Global North and the Global South, in recognition that child labour and terrorism are shared challenges that require shared solutions. Nigeria’s call is not for charity but for partnership: a partnership that secures democracy and safeguards humanity.

Nigeria cannot confront this challenge alone. United Nations agencies, donor bodies and international partners must join hands with Nigeria to eradicate child labour and dismantle the recruitment pipelines of terror. That partnership must deliver:

Investment in education. Schools built, teachers trained and quality learning within reach of every child.
Social protection. Safety nets for the families most vulnerable to child labour.
Child-centred security. Counter-terrorism strategies that integrate child protection into national and regional security frameworks.
Community resilience. Programmes that equip local leaders and families to resist extremist recruitment.

The eradication of child labour is not a distant goal; it is an urgent necessity. Nigeria must strengthen its laws, enforce accountability and treat education as a national security strategy. International partners must provide technical expertise, funding and solidarity. Civil society must continue to raise awareness and hold leaders to account. Government, the private sector, civil society and international organisations must work hand in hand. The stakes are too high for complacency.

The measure of our humanity

La mesure de notre humanité

On this Democracy Day, let us affirm that democracy is measured not by ballots alone, but by the futures we safeguard for our children. The fight against child labour is inseparable from the fight against terrorism. By protecting Nigeria’s children, we protect Nigeria’s democracy and, by extension, the stability of Africa and the world.

The time to act is now. The world must not look away. Nigeria’s children deserve more than survival; they deserve the chance to thrive, to innovate and to lead. The measure of our collective humanity will be judged by how we respond to this crisis.

Notes to editorsNotes aux rédactions

About the author. Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan is President of the Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF) and a Senior Fellow of the Association of Business Executives, United Kingdom. Read his profile.

SourcesSources

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Read the full investigation

A public health imperative

Why the National Youth Service Corps

Engineered for Nigerian conditions

Evidence, skills and accountability

Voices of the partnership

An open invitation

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Where volunteers serve

Why it matters

Democracy Day and a sobering reality

The scale of the crisis

From labour to recruitment

Nigeria’s greatest resource at risk

Linking the fight to global commitments

A call to leadership and partnership

The measure of our humanity

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