Abuja: Through a series of transformative projects, the International Development Association (IDA) is making significant strides in empowering adolescent girls and women across Nigeria, thereby enhancing human capital development and fostering inclusive growth in the nation.
According to World Bank, a range of initiatives including AGILE, NFWP, IMPACT, ANRiN, NASSP-SU, and NG-CARES are at the forefront of this empowerment movement. Launched in 2021, the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) is improving secondary education for girls in 18 Nigerian states. By providing safe schools, life skills, digital literacy, and scholarships, AGILE has already benefited over 4 million girls with ambitions to reach 15 million by 2028, thereby reducing gender disparities and equipping adolescent girls for adulthood and employment.
The Nigeria for Women Program (NFWP), initiated in 2019, focuses on empowering women aged 18 and above in six states through the establishment of Women Affinity Groups (WAGs), savings schemes, livelihood grants, and skills training. This initiative has already made a difference for over 1 million women, facilitating the formation of more than 22,000 WAGs, accumulating over 5 billion Naira in savings, and enhancing access to markets, credit, and decision-making roles to promote financial independence and social inclusion.
IMPACT, or Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services, was launched in 2021 to reduce under-five mortality by enhancing immunization and malaria services in 28 states. This initiative supports vaccine delivery, health worker training, and facility upgrades, benefiting millions of children and women and aiming for a 40 percent reduction in child mortality by 2030.
The Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, launched in 2019, provides cost-effective nutrition services to pregnant women, adolescents, and children under five in 11 states. With over 13.5 million beneficiaries, ANRiN has successfully addressed malnutrition and stunting while strengthening state capacity for large-scale nutrition programs.
Launched in 2023, the National Social Safety Net Program Scale-Up (NASSP-SU) expands shock-responsive cash transfers nationwide, targeting 56 million poor and vulnerable individuals. With over 42 million beneficiaries having received digital cash transfers, women account for 94 percent of regular transfer recipients, reinforcing social registries, digital payments, and resilience to economic shocks.
The Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES), initiated in 2021, supports more than 17 million poor households and small businesses post-COVID-19, providing cash transfers, food security, grants, and public works. This has benefited over 12 million individuals with basic services and 3.5 million farmers, aiding in building resilience and supporting economic recovery nationwide.
The World Bank Group’s approach, over the past decade, has been to empower Nigeria’s women and girls by increasing their human capital and economic opportunities. This comprehensive strategy combines support for girls’ education, adolescent health, economic inclusion, and gender-based violence prevention, ensuring progress in one area reinforces others. Innovations such as Women Affinity Groups, digital financial inclusion, and social protection programs have played a critical role in this transformation, alongside rigorous policy analytics and partnerships with global entities.
The World Bank’s strategic direction is guided by its 2024-2030 Gender Strategy, which aims to accelerate gender equality as a foundation for sustainable development. In Nigeria, the WBG is deepening country-led engagement, integrating gender analysis into diagnostics, and fostering collaboration across public and private sectors, ensuring sustainability through financing, robust monitoring, and continued support for policy reforms and capacity building.