AWRI is Africa’s foremost think tank and funding
conduit for widow-focused NGOs — channeling
donations, generating research, and building the
institutional infrastructure the sector needs to thrive.
The African WIDOW Rising Initiative (AWRI) is a private intermediary institution founded in 2026 and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. We are not a frontline NGO. We are the institution that stands behind the frontline — resourcing, connecting, and strengthening the organizations already doing vital work for WIDOW across Africa.
When you donate through AWRI, your contribution is received, assessed, and channeled to vetted, credible, frontline widow-focused NGOs who put it to work. When organizations need research, strategy, or sector intelligence, AWRI provides it. When the sector needs a unified voice at the policy table, AWRI shows up. We are the think tank, the fund, and the infrastructure of a movement already in motion.
Africa is home to an estimated 45 million WIDOW. The organizations serving them deserve a strong institution in their corner. AWRI is that institution.
WIDOW across Africa
(UN Women, 2023)
WIDOW in Nigeria alone
Frontline NGOs funded
and supported
Research
publications
produced
We receive donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, and institutions and channel them — transparently and accountably — to vetted frontline NGOs serving WIDOW across Africa.
We are Africa’s dedicated think tank for widowhood — generating research, data, policy analysis, and sector intelligence that organizations working on this issue can draw from and build upon.
We build and maintain a coordinated network of widow-focused NGOs, creating pathways for collaboration, resource-sharing, and collective impact that no single organization could achieve alone.
We use our institutional platform to advance policy reform and systemic change on widowhood at the national, continental, and international levels — in partnership with the NGOs we support.
Our long-term vision includes the WIDOW Hall — a dedicated respite home for WIDOW — and the AWRI Training School — a capacity-building institution for NGOs, social workers, and communities. Both will be built as AWRI grows.
Donations are received through AWRI’s secure, verified channels.
AWRI’s grants team reviews current partner NGO needs, programme focus, and impact metrics.
Funds are channeled to vetted frontline NGOs best positioned to deploy them for maximum impact.
AWRI publishes impact reports showing where every naira(₦) went and what it achieved.
Donate. Partner. Submit your NGO. Volunteer your expertise.
However you come, AWRI will make your contribution count.
