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| A Rwandan midwife explaining to a postpartum woman how to better position her baby for breastfeeding. Credit: Photographed by Jacques Nkinzingabo for the International Confederation of Midwives. |
By The International Confederation of Midwives.
A new peer-reviewed study says that midwifery-led care is not a policy option, but instead an evidence-based requirement to prevent millions of unnecessary deaths. This week in Lisbon, thousands of midwives will gather to demand action.
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| Group Photo of Tabitha Empowerment Centre (TEC), Shades of Us, Shield Them, SuS Pads, Women Community in Africa, Tabitha Empowerment Centre Girls Vanguards, and Teachers and Students of LEA Kpeyegyi, Abuja |
By Florence Shadrack and Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
On June 2, 2026, we partnered with Tabitha Empowerment Centre (TEC), Shield Them, SuS Pads, Women Community in Africa, and Tabitha Empowerment Centre Girls Vanguards to commemorate World Menstrual Hygiene Day at the Local Education Authority (LEA) School in Kpeyegyi, Abuja. This was supported by the Office of the Pioneer Mandate Secretary for Women and Children, FCT Women Affairs Secretariat (FCT WAS).
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| Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash |
By Florence Shadrack
I woke up before the first light touched the windows.
For a moment, I didn’t move.
I just listened.
by Kashibu Victory
Photo by Jouni Rajala on Unsplash
The first thing you notice in Ajegunle Extension is not the noise, but the thirst.
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| Photo by Emmanuel Yeboah Okine on Unsplash |
By Atinuke Adeosun
Before we get into it, we want to invite you to the Jos Mental Health Summit 2026.
Theme: Building Resilience in the Face of Trauma
Date: May 26, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM
Register here: www.aibeth.org
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| Group Photo from the WIPO IP and Women Business Summit at the United Nations House, Abuja. |
On March 17, 2026, I attended the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Intellectual Property and Women Business Summit at the United Nations House, Abuja.
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| Photo by Zachary Keimig on Unsplash |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
I made a post on the Shades of Us page about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and Facebook flagged it as “Child Sexual Exploitation,” placing a restriction on my profile.
Even after an appeal, the decision stood.
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| Nasara Tanko Looks to the World with Hope |
By Ojonugwa Yahaya
A reflection on childhood, displacement, and the quiet resilience of becoming.
The launch of the #16daysofActivism by Leading Ladies Africa on November 28, 2025, in partnership with TechHer NG, brought together women who live and breathe the fight for digital safety. I didn’t expect the conversation to hit me as deeply as it did, but from the moment the session began, I felt myself leaning in. I joined the webinar thinking I already understood tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), but by the end, I realised how much I had overlooked, how much I had normalised, and how much we still needed to confront.
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| Photo by James Wiseman on Unsplash |
Corruption continues to undermine development across many African countries, stalling progress and limiting opportunities for millions of people. Despite the continent’s vast human and natural resources, the mismanagement and diversion of public funds weaken institutions, disrupt public services, and erode trust in governance. To understand how corruption affects development, we must reflect on the ways it shapes everyday life, deepens inequality, and prevents communities from reaching their full potential.
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By Atinuke Adeosun
There is a saying I have heard thrown around when life felt unfair: “Strength is not always loud; sometimes it whispers.”
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| Ramatu Ada Ochekliye |
I recently sat down with Imoh from West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) in Dakar to discuss an issue that is shaping the daily realities of women online: the invisible violence of algorithms.
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| Ramatu Ada Ochekliye, Shades of Us Founder, with Ugonna and Titi on Kiss FM 99.9 Abuja |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
On December 3 and 5, 2025, I joined Ugonna on Kiss FM 99.9 Abuja on behalf of Shades of Us to discuss How Pop Culture Shapes Gender Norms. The conversations were part of our continued commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, and they offered me the opportunity to expand on the stories, jokes, lyrics, and images we consume every day.
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| Ramatu Ada Ochekliye at Montage Radio 99.7 FM to Discuss Fertility and Blame Culture in Nigeria |
Last week, I joined Gesiere on Montage Radio 99.7 FM in Abuja to discuss a topic that touches the lives of countless Nigerian (and dare I say, African) women: fertility, blame, and the ways patriarchy shapes our understanding of reproductive health. Our conversation was part of the 16 Days of Activism, a global campaign that, this year, places a spotlight on ending digital violence against women and girls.
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| Photo by appshunter.io on Unsplash |
In this century we live in, it is almost impossible to separate our digital lives from our everyday lives. For billions of people worldwide, including millions in Africa and Nigeria, the internet shapes how we work, communicate, learn, and participate in society. Every message sent, post shared, or transaction made generates data: data that, without safeguards, can be collected, analysed, or exploited. Protecting digital rights, particularly privacy and freedom of expression, is therefore essential for human dignity and democracy.
Globally, digitalisation is accelerating, and the energy surrounding the digital future in Africa is unfolding rapidly. Citizens want faster, smarter public services. Governments aim to build systems that deliver, and the continent is full of opportunity. That excitement came alive at the AfreGov webinar, themed “Governing Digital Transformation in the Public Sector: Inclusive Institutional Models for Sustainable Financing for e-Governance in Africa,” which Shades of Us attended on Thursday, November 20, 2025.
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| Photo by zibik on Unsplash |
Thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, the world still grapples with the same questions: how do we make peace real, and how do we make it inclusive? These were the questions that anchored a powerful consultative session convened by the NGO CSW/NY Peace and Gender Equality Working Group, a space where advocates, researchers, and practitioners came together to reflect on what peace truly means for women and girls in today’s world.
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| Yecenu Sasetu at the Gatefield Health Summit in Abuja on October 22–23, 2025 |
I attended the third Gatefield Health Summit (GHS 2025). No, I was actually the Master of Ceremonies for the two days the event was held. Health advocates, leaders, analysts, professionals, students, and journalists gathered in Abuja on October 22–23 for the Summit, which has now become a platform for dialogue on public health futures in Africa.
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| Photo by Walls.io on Unsplash |
Hashtags like #EndDigitalViolence and #UniteAgainstAbuse fill our feeds during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. We share posts, re-tweet powerful messages, and voice our support. But what happens after we hit “post”? Does the conversation stop when the hashtags fade from our timelines? The reality is that real change starts beyond the hashtags.
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| Photo by Adem AY on Unsplash |
Ever heard the saying “evil evolves”? It is painfully true. No matter how far humanity travels, no matter how many breakthroughs we celebrate or hard-won agreements we reach, those determined to harm always find new terrain. The internet and the smartphone — two of the most transformative inventions of our age — should have been pure gifts, widening opportunity, shrinking distance, expanding possibility. Yet in the hands of the worst among us, they have become megaphones for the kind of venom that used to hide in locker rooms, dim parlors, and back-alley whispers.
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| Photo by mulugeta wolde on Unsplash |
Vee was only 24 when she walked into a radio station, asking for help; all she needed was for someone to listen to her. She met someone on a social media platform. He was nice, handsome, and romantic, so she thought she had met the man of her dreams. He wasn’t rich, but he was comfortable and had great ideas for the future, and their conversations were focused on career and growth. Indeed, she had met her soulmate, or so she thought.
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| Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
Every year, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women forces us to pause and take stock of how far we have come and how much work still lies ahead. This year’s theme, “UNiTE to End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls,” feels especially urgent. The online world has become an extension of our lives, and with all its promise has come new kinds of harm. For many women and girls in Nigeria, that harm is constant, unrelenting, and deeply personal.
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| Key Learning and Insights at the Solutions Journalism Africa Summit in Abuja |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
At the Solutions Journalism Africa Summit in Abuja, I sat with a familiar mix of curiosity and anticipation. More than ever, it felt clear to me that the future of storytelling depends on how deliberately we engage with data, knowledge, and the insights we can glean from there. Without data to ground our assumptions, without research to guide our methods, and without insights to shape our decisions, even the most passionate storytelling risks speaking into a void.
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| “Complicating the Narrative: Finding Solutions Stories in Times of Conflict and Crisis” at the 2025 SoJo Africa Summit in Abuja |
By Yecenu Sasetu
The panel on “Complicating the Narrative: Finding Solutions Stories in Times of Conflict and Crisis” at the Solutions Journalism Africa Summit in Abuja reminded me why this work matters. In moments when communities face violence, displacement, trauma, and uncertainty, it is easy for journalism to focus only on the suffering. But this panel made it clear that even in chaos, people still try to solve problems, protect one another, and rebuild what conflict has taken. The conversation challenged us to look again, look deeper, and report with the intention of restoring humanity to the people whose stories we tell.
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| SoJo Labs at the 2025 Solutions Journalism Africa Summit in Abuja |
By Yecenu Sasetu
Journalism constantly demands a choice: to stop at the problem or to look deeper for what is working. Every day, reporters meet communities that survive against the odds; people who organise themselves after disasters, innovators who solve local problems with limited resources, and institutions that quietly shift outcomes. These stories matter. They tell the fuller truth of our society.