Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi

2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: GirlLeadNigeria

Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi is an internationally recognized gender equality, policy advocacy and project management professional with experience in human rights and social and behavioral change communication. As the Founder of the Stand To End Rape Initiative, she has significantly built the capacity of state and non-state actors in this field and has received several awards and recognitions from national and international bodies. She excels at developing relationships with professionals and key organizations in the field of Gender Equality, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, and Sexual and Gender-based Violence across the service user support and research sectors. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: GirlLead

GirlLead taught Nigerian women and girls immediate, actionable steps to take after experiencing sexual violence using online and printed educational tools. In Nigeria, the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence is growing at an astronomical rate, calling for both prevention and response mechanisms. Many individuals are not well-informed about the steps to take when faced with an event of rape, which continues to hinder women from taking timely measures that preempt the violence, seek care or even access justice.

Through partnerships with leading local social media platforms whose primary audience is women and girls, these resources were accessed by a wide range of beneficiaries. These resources were also available in print at two selected tertiary institutions, Baze University and Rivers State University, as a means of facilitating the wider spread dissemination of the resources among young women and girls. The online and offline availability of these resources aided in the sustainability of the project as they can be referenced subsequently even after the project ends. Through this project, they created one animation video and printed 1000 IEC materials distributed across the universities reaching 3,571 persons since the last evaluation and we anticipate reaching over 10,000 people in three months.

"Thank you STER for developing these IEC materials. It's something we've been planning to do but did not have funding for. We will definitely use them and have opened our doors to partner with you." - Project partner

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Oluwaseun was a participant in the IVLP Project Ending Gender-Based Violence, organized by the U.S. Department of State and World Learning.

Oluwaseun's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "The IVLP program was engaging and enlightening! It exposed me to new initiatives SGBV-focused organizations are exploring, which I am currently adapting to my organization's strategy and programs."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually

Washington, DC; New Orleans, LA; Boston, MA; Raleigh, NC; Burlington, VT

Country of Origin: Nigeria

Click here to go back to the Main IVLP Impact Awards Main Page