A Non-governmental Organisation, TOS Foundation Africa, has announced a formal partnership with the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses’ Forum (NGSF) to expand women’s economic empowerment programmes, strengthen primary healthcare delivery and improve child survival outcomes across Nigeria’s 36 states.
The partnership, announced in a statement issued by the Foundation’s media office on Monday, is designed to align state-led social interventions with a national framework that links women’s livelihoods to household resilience and infant survival, particularly in underserved communities.
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Under the collaboration, both organisations will jointly implement and scale the Foundation’s Women and Girls Empowerment (WAGE) and Capacity Building Incubator (CBI) framework, with a focus on strengthening Primary Health Centres (PHCs), expanding sustainable livelihood pathways for women and supporting state-owned implementation models that are measurable and scalable.
The WAGE and CBI framework was first launched in 2020 by TOS Foundation Africa, then known as The Osasu Show Foundation, at the height of national concern over persistent gender inequities.
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The initiative was unveiled at a press conference attended by senior stakeholders from government, civil society and the development sector, including the then Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, and Amnesty International Nigeria’s Country Director, Osai Ojigho. The programme was backed by a ₦2.5 billion catalytic fund.
According to the Foundation, “the framework was designed as a practical, systems-strengthening vehicle to move resources closer to communities, reinforce existing institutions, and equip women not only to participate in economic life, but to do so with dignity, stability, and agency, recognising the direct link between women’s livelihoods, household resilience, and child survival outcomes.”
The newly formalised partnership with the Governors’ spouses’ forum marks a scaling phase for the initiative.
Led by its Chairperson, Olufolake AbdulRazaq, the Forum occupies a strategic position within Nigeria’s governance structure, combining proximity to subnational decision-making with strong community-level engagement, particularly among women, families and vulnerable groups.
By integrating TOS Foundation Africa’s programme design, technical expertise and monitoring frameworks with the Forum’s convening power and reach at the state level, the partnership aims to promote state ownership, sustainability and alignment with national development priorities.
The collaboration will prioritise the strengthening of PHCs to improve infant survival rates, the expansion of women’s economic empowerment pathways to boost household resilience, and the delivery of context-responsive interventions driven by state governments.
Speaking about the partnership, Osasu Igbinedion, Founder of TOS Foundation Africa, said that women’s livelihoods and child survival must be treated as interconnected development priorities rather than isolated interventions.
“Improving child survival and women’s livelihoods requires more than isolated programmes. It requires systems that recognise how closely a mother’s economic stability is tied to a child’s chance at survival,” she said.
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“When women have the tools to earn, to access quality care, and to make informed choices, families become healthier and communities grow stronger. This partnership is about delivering that impact in ways that are practical, locally led and sustainable.”
Mrs Igbinedion added that working with the governors’ spouses’ forum would help strengthen existing state systems and ensure that national priorities translate into tangible improvements at the community level.
The partnership is expected to accelerate the nationwide expansion of the WAGE and CBI framework, reinforcing TOS Foundation Africa’s broader mission of advancing inclusive governance, gender equity and sustainable development, while addressing long-standing gaps in women’s livelihoods and child health outcomes.
The NGSF brings together the spouses of state governors to support social development initiatives focused on women, children and families, leveraging its access to subnational leadership and grassroots networks.
TOS Foundation Africa is a pan-African nonprofit organisation working on inclusive governance, gender equity, youth empowerment and locally led development through policy advocacy, research and programme delivery.
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