Accelerating socio-economic growth through empowerment of women, girls and vulnerable groups
Women Arise Development and Humanitarian Initiative (WADHI) registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission Nigeria in 2016 with incorporation number CAC/IT/NO 92444. It is a non-profit organization focused on finding customized solutions to inequalities and women’s exclusion across sectors, especially in economic markets, from a human rights and sustainable development perspective on the basis of global, regional, and national normative frameworks. It provides appropriate platforms, interventions, tools, social enterprise models, and management systems for enabling beneficiaries to progressively grow their entrepreneurial capacities, digital skills, and socio-economic standing in the society. From its inception, WADHI innovated the “KOWGO” Mobile Application to help bridge the digital gender gap. The App is a unique financial inclusion and de-risking tool for formal and informal MSMEs at the bottom of the market pyramid, operating at the periphery of economic interactions across sectors and value chains. Additionally, WADHI promotes women’s leadership and GBV management support through training, resource development, policy and legislative reforms, referrals, and partnerships with critical stakeholders.
what makes us different
Our Vision, Mission & Goal
Our Vision
To harness and expand socio-economic opportunities for the transformation of women’s lives and family as a catalyst to community and national growth.
Our Mission
Facilitating flexible and customized social and financial inclusion services, platforms and management systems that will empower women and girls across sectors
Our Goal
To accelerate socio-economic growth through empowerment of women, girls and vulnerable groups
WADHI continues to provide tools and resources to better harness the capabilities of its associates, partners, and networks to amplify women’s voices and concerns, strengthen their collective bargaining and negotiating capacities on issues of priority concern related to economic empowerment, protection from violence, and attaining inclusive governance at leadership levels. Additionally, WADHI works with government, the private sector, as well as policy, political, and legislative institutions to engender an array of reforms in pursuit of the national legislative agenda and national policy priorities. It promotes the distilling and aggregating of women’s voices in different value chains and economic sectors to increase democratic dividends for women, using digital technologies and rights-centered approaches.
Our Inspiration
WADHI's work is inspired by the urgent need to technologically address the knowledge, skills, and access gaps primarily faced by women entrepreneurs, highlighted by their limited participation and engagement in the expanding global digital economy and E-Commerce. To bridge these gaps, WADHI has developed a holistic, gender-friendly, easy-to-use online/offline Mobile Application (App) named "KOWGO" to promote financial inclusion among formal and informal Micro and Small-scale entrepreneurs across sectors. "KOWGO" (a hybrid Nigerian word for money - Kudi, Owo, Ego) enables users to generate genuine, real-time business documentation, offers a framework for Business Performance Diagnostics, and helps produce Business Health Status Reports. It also provides simple financial literacy modules and a business management platform that is continuously accessible anytime and anywhere as an offline service, making it particularly user-friendly for rural communities.
Achieving Our Manadate
In achieving our mandate, WADHI addresses women’s multi-faceted challenges and issues related to governance and leadership, violence against women, illiteracy, and exclusion in development processes, including in areas of women, peace, and security. WADHI has partnered with international development agencies, federal and state ministries, embassies, financial institutions, women civil society organizations, and cooperatives, among others. Our products and results have been featured at global learning platforms like the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), to mention a few. WADHI's work serves women around Nigeria virtually through its Digital Hub and through direct operations in the FCT, Nasarawa, Lagos, and Edo States of Nigeria.
Key partners
