The International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank Group, is working to improve opportunities for women and girls in Nigeria through a range of projects. These initiatives aim to address challenges such as early marriage, low school completion rates for girls, gender-based violence, and limited access to jobs and financial services.
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), launched in 2021, seeks to improve secondary education for girls across 18 Nigerian states. The project provides safe schools, life skills training, digital literacy programs, and scholarships. According to the IDA, over four million girls have benefited from AGILE so far. The program aims to reach 15 million by 2028.
Another project, the Nigeria for Women Program (NFWP), began in 2019. It supports women aged 18 and above in six states through Women Affinity Groups (WAGs), savings schemes, livelihood grants, and skills training. More than one million women have participated in these groups, saving over five billion Naira ($3.4 million) collectively and gaining greater access to markets and credit.
The Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) initiative was launched in 2021 with the goal of reducing under-five mortality by improving immunization and malaria services in 28 states. This includes support for vaccine delivery, health worker training, and facility upgrades.
Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN), started in 2019, delivers nutrition services to pregnant women, adolescents, and children under five years old in 11 states. Over 13.5 million people—including nine million children—have received support aimed at reducing malnutrition.
The National Social Safety Net Program Scale-Up (NASSP-SU), which began in 2023, extends cash transfers nationwide targeting poor and vulnerable populations. So far more than 42 million people have received digital cash transfers; most regular recipients are women.
Additionally, the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) program supports post-pandemic recovery for households and small businesses by providing cash transfers, food security measures, grants, public works opportunities, basic services access for over twelve million people as well as support for farmers.
According to the World Bank Group: “Through AGILE, Nigeria is creating a generation of confident, informed, and empowered young women who can overcome barriers [and] shape their futures...”
In its approach over the past decade https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/overview#1 , the World Bank has focused on increasing human capital among women through education support programs like AGILE; economic inclusion via savings groups; prevention of gender-based violence; digital financial inclusion; social protection programs; private sector partnerships; expanded social safety nets; improved health services; strengthened legal protections against gender-based violence; integrating gender priorities into country strategies; policy analytics; capacity building at state level—all contributing towards closing gender gaps.
Lessons from these efforts indicate that locally managed grants combined with community engagement help ensure effective delivery while collective action within affinity groups strengthens women's ability to access financial resources.
Looking ahead https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/publication/world-bank-groups-gender-strategy-fy24-30 , the World Bank’s work will be guided by its Gender Strategy for 2024–2030 with continued emphasis on monitoring progress toward sustainable development goals related to gender equality.