What we do

We invest in creative, grassroots ideas; connect these ideas with the resources to scale up their impact and accelerate progress through campaigns that influence global decision makers to commit to delivering change. 

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence × Speto

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE POWER OF WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM | 2022

  • On Human Rights Day 2022, a new mural was unveiled on the Museu Afro Brasil in São Paolo, created by Brazilian artist Speto with support and creative input from Evoca Foundation. The mural amplifies Iranian voices, celebrates the power of Iran’s ‘Woman. Life. Freedom’ message and champions the Iranian counter-revolution which erupted following the death of Jini ‘Mahsa’ Amini in September 2022.

    Using art as a tool for social change, the mural depicts poignant moments from the movement, the defiant women of Iran and their dreams for the future. Together, Evoca Foundation and Speto were calling for women in Iran to be able to make decisions about their own bodies and to live lives that are peaceful, dignified and free from gender-based violence. The mural seeks to pay tribute to victims of weaponised sexual violence, those who have lost their lives, those who are imprisoned and those whose locations are still unknown.

    The mural’s presentation also took place on the final date of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign that kicked off on 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. During the course of the 16 Days and in the lead up to the mural presentation, Speto and Evoca Foundation collaborated on a series of bespoke artworks and animations, portraying moments from the counter-revolution that remain emblazoned on the creators’ minds and in their hearts.

Bella Foundation

GIRLS NOT BRIDES | ONGOING

  • In some parts of rural Nigeria, child marriage remains a cultural norm. Girls as young as twelve are removed from school and forced to marry adult men and become young mothers. Bella Foundation is a small, grassroots organisation working to end child marriage in Nigeria by supporting girls and young women to stay in education. Evoca is currently funding the higher education programmes for three survivors of child marriage, as well as an ongoing intervention programme delivered in schools to both boys and girls. Bella, with the support of Evoca, is also partnering with higher education institutions to create a quarterly magazine for distribution to raise awareness of child marriage.

Green Ivory

CHAMPIONING THE NEXT GENERATION OF AFRICAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS | ONGOING

  • Green Ivory is a Côte d'Ivoire-based NGO, who recognise the essential role that the next generation will play in the fate of the country’s remaining forests. Côte d'Ivoire has one of the fastest deforestation rates in the world, losing over 14 million hectares to logging and agriculture since 1960. As climate change presents increasingly urgent problems, it’s never been more essential to save the remaining two million hectares and the rich biodiversity they support. This remarkable organisation knows that the closer we get to nature, the more inclined we are to protect it. Together, Evoca and Green Ivory developed the first ever nature camp, which immersed fifty young adults in the forest and taught them about the wonders of the biosphere.

Charmaghz Libraries 

BRINGING MOBILE LIBRARIES TO CHILDREN IN AFGHANISTAN | ONGOING

  • Charmaghz Mobile Libraries is a Kabul-based non-profit organisation which turns old public buses into mobile libraries. These libraries provide a space for children to immerse themselves in over 400 books in Dari, Pashto and English, with stories and topics ranging from science and history to nature and storytelling. They also create a safe space for children to think critically, play together, to be themselves and to ask questions, with a librarian, a library assistant and a driver on board. The team is equipped to provide educational services to the children and to coordinate activities that help support their mental health, with special games designed to reduce stress and anxiety. With over 210,000 visits, they are the most visited library in the whole of Afghanistan. Now that so many of the country’s children have no access to a formal education, the learning that the libraries provide has never been so important. For many young girls in Kabul, their library visits are the time they look forward to the most - one young girl told the team that the Charmaghz Library is her “favourite place on Earth.”

Slam Out Loud 

SUPPORTING CREATIVE GROWTH IN SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN | ONGOING

  • Slam Out Loud (SOL) builds creative confidence skills like communication, critical thinking and empathy in school children from low-income households in India. Since 2022, we have been supporting SOL with The Jijivisha Fellowship and Arts For All Project Avaza. The former places professional artists directly into classrooms, who help build essential life skills with children through the art forms of poetry, storytelling, theatre, visual arts and photography. Project Avaza trains teachers in government schools across Punjab to transform their weekly art-period, aiming to impact 4,000 children and 100 teachers. The programme supports teachers to implement about 20 hours of arts-based education in their classrooms, drawing on gender equity and climate action themes.

Giga 

CONNECTING EVERY SCHOOL TO THE INTERNET | ONGOING

  • Evoca Foundation supports UNICEF’s Giga initiative, which is working to connect every school in the world to the internet by 2030, and with it, every young person to information, opportunity and choice. To date, up to 5,000 schools in 20 countries have been connected to the internet through Giga, resulting in two million students having access to digital learning. To date, nearly 5,000 schools in 20 countries have been connected to the internet through Giga, resulting in access to digital learning for two million students.

    Girls in Blockchain: Connectivity Challenge

    At the beginning of 2023 in partnership with Giga, Evoca launched the ‘Girls in Blockchain: Connectivity Challenge’ to work with young female technologists in emerging markets who have an interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency. The programme provides transformational mentorship for girls and young women as they establish innovative routes to using crypto and bank digital currencies to deliver connectivity in public facilities.

Afghan Girls
Robotics Team 

GIRLS BREAKING GROUND IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY | 2020

  • In March 2020, Evoca CEO Naza Alakija visited women and children in Afghanistan with UNICEF to hear their stories and learn first-hand of their resilience. Having been subjected to four decades of conflict, it’s now estimated by the UN that up to 97% of the country is at risk of sinking into poverty. The ongoing situation deeply exacerbates gender-based violence, and heightens barriers for women and girls in accessing basic education, opportunities and services. Today, Afghan girls face discrimination, economic hardships, exposure to conflict, trauma and displacement.

    The Girls Robotics Team members undertake incredible feats of science and technology, and the team also acts as a ‘virtual safe space’ for adolescent girls to access GBV, self care and mental health information safely. Evoca continues to support the team, alongside UNICEF and the Digital Citizen Fund, in exploring innovative ways to provide affordable and accessible Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education to adolescent girls.

Braveheart Ladies 

SUPPORTING GIRLS IN NIGERIA TO PURSUE THEIR SPORTING AMBITIONS | 2022

  • In 2022, Evoca Foundation partnered with the Braveheart Ladies Football team in Nigeria, providing funding for football kits and registration for the 2022 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership. Braveheart works with girls in Nigeria to follow their dreams in sport, and supports them to overcome the barriers of stigma and social pressure that stand in their way. In 2023, Evoca will fund Braveheart’s registration for the new season along with key training, resources and amenities.

Legacy of War 

GIVING WOMEN FARMERS OWNERSHIP OF LAND IN RWANDA | 2019

  • Legacy of War Foundation’s ‘Land for Women’ Project in Rwanda gives Women Cooperatives full ownership of their land, providing them with the agency and means to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty. Launched in 2019, the five-year programme supports women with the resources, tools, education and support systems they need to maximise their land and become the owners of a profitable business. Most of the project’s participants are survivors of genocide and sexual violence. They have a deep connection to the land and their environment, and many of them work using traditional, sustainable farming techniques that have been passed down for generations.

    Rwanda is a progressive country regarding women’s rights, but not all women are in a position to take advantage of their right to land or to adequately support their families. Following the 1994 genocide, 70% of the remaining population was women, of which 85% live in rural areas. They depend almost entirely on agriculture and make up the vast majority of the workforce, which is why access to and ownership of land is so important. It’s the most effective way to alleviate poverty and gives them enough produce to enter the market as well as living healthily.

WARIF 

TARGETING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA | 2021

  • ‘I will no longer keep quiet, but speak out and report any case of rape in my school or community’.

    Women at Risk Foundation (WARIF) is a non-profit founded by Dr Kemi DaSilva-Ibru MD in response to the rising cases of rape, sexual violence and human trafficking of girls across Nigeria. To tackle the issue, WARIF knew they had to get to the very root of the problem: gender inequality. Evoca Foundation supports WARIF’s vision to build a society free of rape and sexual violence, and together the organisations launched a school programme which educates and increases awareness of gender-based violence in schools in Lagos State. The girls are taught practical ways to protect themselves, to say no, and to speak up. Crucially, WARIF educates boys as well as girls, so the young men can learn to treat girls as their equals

ArtX Lagos 

SEEING THE CITY THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS | 2019

  • In 2019 Evoca Foundation collaborated with ArtX, a platform and art fair that showcases contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. We worked with a team of artists and architects to curate ‘This is Lagos’, an augmented reality art project which displayed the city through a new lens.

    Our partners, Nyacho NwaNri, Ifebusola Shotunde and Amanda Iheme visualised the areas of the city affected by environmental challenges in an unforgettable light, immersing the audience in a world drastically altered by climate change and urbanisation.

COVID-19: Afghanistan & Nigeria

RESPONDING TO EMERGENCIES | 2020

  • In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Evoca Foundation partnered with international organisations to provide food, soap and education to help refugees, IDPs and other vulnerable communities in the Middle East and Africa. In April 2020, she donated 84 tons of soap and hygiene kits for more than 350,000 people in Afghanistan, in partnership with the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) unit of UNICEF. In response to the month-long lockdown in Nigeria, Evoca partnered with a local NGO, JAKIN, to distribute food to 1,000 households in the Iwaya Community in Lagos