The wounds of displacement run deep — but so does the strength of women

Ladi Ashifa was seventeen when she found her footing again. Displaced from Borno State in 2014 along with her family, she had spent years surviving on amateur catering skills in the Kuchingoro Camp in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory. It was barely enough. Like the majority of women in the camp, she was living on less than ₦20,000 — roughly $13 — a month, with her education interrupted and her prospects uncertain.

Then she joined WINGS.

Sponsored through the Women in Internally Displaced Persons Camps (IDPs): Nurturing Growth and Strength (WINGS), Ladi attended a catering apprenticeship, gained digital literacy skills, and joined a peer-led psychosocial support circle. She learned how to promote her business online, manage her finances, and plan for growth. Today, she mentors other girls in the camp — a beacon of hope among her peers.

"Before I follow WINGS, wahala too much for my side! But now, hope don dey and I believe say I fit make am — not just for business, but for school too." (Translation: "Before joining the WINGS project, I had a lot of trouble, but now I am hopeful that I can make it — not just in business, but in school as well.")

Ladi's story is one of hundreds. It is also exactly the story we set out to make possible when we launched WINGS.

From Relief to Resilience

We designed WINGS in 2024 with funding from the World Bank's Youth Innovation Fund, with one clear conviction: that bridging the gap between humanitarian relief and long-term development was both urgent and achievable. Nigeria's Northeast has seen more than four million people displaced by over a decade of insurgency. Women and girls make up 52% of this population. In camps like Kuchingoro, 68% of women have lived in displacement for six to twelve years, facing compounding vulnerabilities: interrupted education, economic exclusion, and heightened exposure to gender-based violence.

Without deliberate investment, the consequences risk becoming generational. WINGS was conceived to interrupt that cycle.

The initiative delivers a tailored curriculum combining business and financial literacy, digital skills, gender and life skills, and psychosocial support. Beneficiaries learn budgeting, record-keeping, mobile finance, and social media marketing. They also access an e-learning platform — developed in partnership with the Natview Foundation for Technology — that functions in low-connectivity environments, ensuring learning continues beyond the life of the program. Climate awareness and environmental stewardship are woven throughout, with participants engaging in tree-planting and recycling activities that connect planetary health to personal well-being.

Jobs at the Centre

At its core, WINGS is a jobs initiative. It equips displaced women with the practical skills and economic agency needed to access livelihoods, grow small businesses, and participate more fully in Nigeria's economy. This aligns directly with the World Bank's Jobs agenda, which recognizes that investing in women's economic empowerment — particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings — is one of the most powerful levers for inclusive growth. When women work, earn, and lead, the benefits extend to their families, their communities, and the broader economy.

In IDP settings, where formal employment opportunities are scarce, building self-employment capacity and entrepreneurship is not a secondary objective — it is the pathway. That is the premise we built WINGS around.

What We Have Achieved So Far

Since the launch, WINGS has established a safe and consistent training environment, strengthened business literacy through hands-on learning, and built emotional resilience through structured psychosocial support. An escalation protocol identifies beneficiaries who need additional mental health services and connects them to a network of qualified providers. Alumni like Ladi are now stepping into peer mentor roles, expanding the initiative's reach organically within the community.

Looking Ahead

As we prepare for the next phase, WINGS will expand its reach to girls aged 13–17 to prevent early and forced marriage, while deepening economic empowerment programmes for young women aged 18–29. Digital literacy will be extended to include AI tools, and community knowledge-sharing through alumni networks will be scaled.

The model is replicable. IDP camps across Nigeria — and beyond — face similar dynamics: concentrated vulnerability, underutilized potential, and a need for interventions that go beyond relief. WINGS offers a blueprint for turning displacement sites into transition hubs — places where women gain not just survival skills, but the tools to lead.

Displaced women are not simply beneficiaries of development — they are agents of it. By investing in their skills, mental health, and economic independence, we believe WINGS is laying the groundwork for something larger: inclusive growth, sustainable livelihoods, and a generational shift in what displacement can mean.

Every girl who opens a bank account, mentors a peer, or expands her business is not just changing her own life. She is rewriting the story of her community.

If you’ve worked on similar challenges, or you’d like to bring WINGS to another community, we’d love to learn from you. Stay connected with our journey at @risewithwingsinitiative on our social media pages.