Meet our Woman Crush for today. She is Dr. Mimidoo Achakpa.

Dr. Achakpa is a women’s rights activist with 27 years of experience in project management and an extensive background in governance, development, gender, humanitarian, and disarmament issues. Dr. Achakpa has significantly contributed to development, disarmament, and humanitarian issues, especially empowering and amplifying the voices of women.

She advocates for the betterment of vulnerable groups in society, especially women, youth, children, and people living with disabilities. Dr. Achakpa understands the impact of crises on women and girls, which differ from those on men and boys due to their different statuses and roles in society. She recognizes the need to amplify the voices of women and empower them at all levels, especially given their under-representation in decision-making and low levels of participation and influence in democratic, disarmament, and humanitarian actions.

She is currently the Executive Director of the Women’s Right to Education Programme (WREP), an NGO with United Nations Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Dr. Achakpa coordinates and belongs to various platforms in Nigeria and globally, which she uses to consult and engage with other civil society organizations to improve her work. She was the Steering Committee Chairperson of Accelerating Localization Through Partnerships (ALTP) and sits on the Global Steering Group (GSG), which aims at strengthening local, national, and international leadership on humanitarian response.

Additionally, she is part of the Global Gender Reference Group (GRG) of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and currently serves as the Secretary of the National Localization Working Group in Nigeria.

Dr. Achakpa is a member of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), the Control Arms Coalition, the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. She coordinates the IANSA Women Network – Nigeria, which has been working to stop the proliferation and misuse of arms since 2005, including building the capacity of women on alternative dispute resolution and conflict resolution strategies through advocacy and training workshops to reduce violence against women. She is also a member of the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR), the Gender and Disaster Network (GDNET), and the Global Network on Disaster Reduction (GNDR).

Currently, Dr. Achakpa chairs the Africa Humanitarian Organisations Network (AHON), which aims at strengthening local, national, and international leadership on humanitarian response. She is the National Coordinator of the Women in Humanitarian Response in Nigeria Initiative Network (WIHRININ), a network of more than 100 women-led civil society organizations working in humanitarian action across Nigeria. Additionally, she coordinates the Women Led Organizations on Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Change and is part of the Steering Committee of the Feminist Humanitarian Network (FHN).

Dr. Achakpa holds a Master of Science degree in Security and Strategic Studies and a PhD in the same field.