“All girls in Nigeria should have the right to education and opportunity with safety and freedom.”

Bukky Shonibare is the founder and executive director of Invictus Africa, an organization addressing gender inequalities through rights-based advocacies, legal reviews, and capacity development. Recently, Invictus Africa launched Orange Pages—a national directory of gender-based violence responders and service providers in Nigeria, accessible in print and digital form to millions of Nigerians. As a founding strategic member of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, Bukky advocates for release of the abducted 276 Chibok schoolgirls, with 166 released so far.

Before founding Invictus Africa, Bukky coordinated projects to assist internally displaced persons and other victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast through the Adopt-A-Camp project, School-In-A-Bag project, and The Food Project. While over 20,000 people directly benefited, the firsthand field experiences informed key advocacies resulting in needed change.

Vision: A gender-equal world, where women and girls in Nigeria can participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, political, cultural, and social development without hindrance by unfavourable cultures, harmful traditions, and structural bottlenecks. We must promote wide and in-depth understanding of gender issues, while collaborating with relevant state and non-state actors on effective strategies.