Arise&Win Project

On International Women’s Day 2026, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and determination of self-employed young women in Ibadan and across Nigeria. The ARISE&WIN Project listened carefully to women’s stories about the realities of running small businesses while navigating major life challenges, including economic shocks, health emergencies, and caregiving responsibilities. These experiences show clearly that economic empowerment and mental well-being are closely connected. Access to knowledge, resources, and supportive networks strengthens women’s businesses while also improving confidence, well-being, and dignity.

Today, we celebrate the women whose voices shaped this research and whose resilience continues to inspire change.

When women rise, we all win.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/SvQZeJhxRwc




&WIN

International Women's Day 2026: When Women Rise, We All Win! On International Women’s Day 2026, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and determination of self-employed young women in Ibadan and across Nigeria. The AR...

Presentation at the Canadian Conference on Global Health 2025

Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah, the Lead Post-Doctoral Fellow of the “Understanding the Gendered Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Co-Producing Solutions that Foster Better Systems and Wellbeing” branded as “Advancing Resiliency in Self-Employed young Women in Nigeria” represented the research team at the 2025 Canadian Conference on Global Health themed “Navigating the Path Forward: Advancing Global Health in a Changing World” holding in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from October 24 to 28. The conference is bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, community organizers and students to reflect on how to advance health equity for all.

Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah, the Lead Post-Doctoral Fellow of the “Understanding the Gendered Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Co-Producing Solutions that Foster Better Systems and Wellbeing” branded as “Advancing Resiliency in Self-Employed young Women in Nigeria” represented the research team at the 2025 Canadian Conference on Global Health themed “Navigating the Path Forward: Advancing Global Health in a Changing World” holding in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from October 24 to 28. The conference is bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, community organisers and students to reflect on how to advance health equity for all. cing the ability of young women, especially those in the informal sector, to prepare for and cope with health crises and how policy can be strengthened.

The Advancing Resiliency In Self-Employed young Women In Nigeria (ARISE&WIN) Protocol Paper is Published!

We announce the publication of the Advancing Resiliency In Self-Employed young Women In Nigeria (ARISE&WIN) Protocol Paper in JMIR Research Protocols! Our paper is titled "Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study".

This paper details the roadmap of our adventure over the last three years, the overall aim of our project as well as the strategies we adopted in our quest to improve the resilience of self-employed young women in Nigeria in the face of significant disruptive life events.

Cited as
Kusi-Mensah I, Taksal A, Akinyemi J, Owoade O, OlaOlorun F, Adeniyi A, Egbokhare O, Taiwo O, Adeoye O, Tamambang R, Afolayan A, Ononye C, Akinpelu O, Iyer S, Omigbodun O. Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study; JMIR Res Protoc 2025;14:e69577

Read the full paper here: https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e69577
DOI: 10.2196/69577

We are grateful for the opportunity the ARISE&WIN journey gives us, and we look forward to many more impactful contributions to research and practice.

Today, we honour the women who wake up daily to create and build dreams with their hands. On this International Worker's Day, we recognise the work of self-employed women — even when it's unpaid, unseen, or unregulated. You are the backbone of our communities.

Notes from Nairobi: For the Love of Self, the Smell of the Streets and a Scientific Writing Workshop

February, 2025.

I have to start with a confession: I loved my stay in Kenya!

So, I am reflecting on my two weeks in Nairobi from that stated bias. Travelling to Kenya was an opportunity to finally see a world I had only seen through the eyes of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. I hope I do not sound immodest to say I have read all his fictional works. Ngugi painted Kenya as a land of resistance and resilience where history hums beneath everyday life. I had walked through the pages of his books imagining the tension between the past and the present, the rural and the urban, the personal and the political. Being in Kenya felt like stepping into a familiar yet vivid world. A place that was once confined to my imagination was now alive with colours, sounds, and conversations – and I was desperate to take it all in.

Read the full story here: https://ariseandwin.ng/post/notes-from-nairobi-for-the-love-of-self-the-smell-of-the-streets-and-a-scientific-writing-workshop/