By Vangawa Bolgent, Special Investigative Correspondent | Yola, Adamawa State

A women-led non-governmental organisation operating in two of Adamawa State’s most conflict-battered communities has concluded a ten-month intervention that enrolled 200 out-of-school children back into classrooms, established five women-led cooperatives, trained 150 community leaders in governance and advocacy, and generated a documented social return of ₦5.26 for every naira spent.

Against All Odds Foundation, working alongside Aid for African Women and Girls, implemented the Beyond Barriers project across Michika and Madagali Local Government Areas between June 2025 and April 2026, with funding from the French Embassy Fund for Civil Society Organisations totalling ₦83.5 million.

The project operated against a deeply difficult backdrop. More than 2.1 million people across Adamawa State remain in need of humanitarian assistance, according to OCHA, including approximately 218,000 internally displaced persons and over 672,000 returnees. Women’s literacy in the state stands at only 56 percent, gender-based violence remains widespread and underreported, and more than 80 percent of households depend on agriculture and small-scale trade that has been severely disrupted by insurgency, flooding, and inflation that pushed food prices up by over 36 percent following fuel subsidy removal.

Working directly inside those conditions, the project delivered outcomes that in several areas surpassed its original targets. Seventy teachers were trained in gender-responsive and disability-inclusive pedagogy against an initial target of thirty, a result the project report attributes to a strong partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Local Education Authority. Two hundred children, 70 percent of them girls, were enrolled in school with a retention rate of 95 to 100 percent. Forty persons with disabilities received assistive devices. Fifty women and youth received vocational training and nano-grants of ₦100,000 each to start or expand businesses, with 40 percent reporting income growth of at least 25 percent within six months.

The governance and advocacy results were equally significant. Three gender-inclusive policy frameworks were drafted and validated with traditional leaders, exceeding the original target of two. Fifty local government officials were trained in gender-responsive budgeting. More than 80 community disputes were resolved through newly established mediation platforms led by trained women executives. Three Memoranda of Understanding were signed with relevant state ministries to institutionalise the project’s gains beyond the funding period. Advocacy for the Adamawa State Disability Rights Act of 2018, which remains un-assented at the executive level, was sustained throughout implementation including a press conference in Yola and sustained radio campaigns.

The project reached 2,150 direct beneficiaries and an estimated 6,700 indirectly through household influence, community outreach, and mass media campaigns including radio jingles on Fombina FM that reached an estimated 20,000 listeners. Its Social Return on Investment, calculated over a five-year horizon and adjusted for standard correction factors, stands at ₦5.26 to the naira even under conservative modelling, with a gross social value of approximately ₦880 million generated from the ₦83.5 million investment. AGAOF’s executive director, Sarah Jackson Solomon, submitted the final report to the Embassy of France in Nigeria on May 15, 2026, with a five-year sustainability plan in place and community-owned structures established to carry the work forward independently of donor funding.