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Our Global Reach
Smiling woman in white blouse and floral scarf stands at a marina with boats in the background on a sunny day.
28 April 2026
Ukrainian peacebuilder Nina Potarska sails to challenge illegal blockade of Gaza

Nina Potarska, a member of the ICAN-spearheaded Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership, is currently at sea with the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian-led mission organized with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, en route to Gaza. 

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Resource Library
12 May 2025
The Odd Couple: Women Peacebuilders and Security Actors Bridging Positions, Building Trust

The WPS agenda has proven a vital entry point for women peacebuilders to engage with the security sector and build trust within affected communities. These efforts—often invisible—are contributing to the reform of the sector, reshaping local security environments and mitigating violence.

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21 April 2025
The War Against Ourselves: Afghan Women Peacebuilders’ Response to the Mental Health Crisis in Afghanistan

This case study describes the drivers of the mental health crisis in Afghanistan, its gendered and cultural dimensions, and the strategies used by Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations to provide solutions. The authors conducted interviews with representatives of Afghan women-led peacebuilding organizations and thematic experts, which were complemented by a desk review of project documentation and […]

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News & Media
6 March 2026
Staff Accountant (Remote, US Based)

ICAN is hiring a Staff Accountant to provide financial and administrative support to ICAN’s Finance Director and broader team.

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Country - Nigeria

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About the Organization

The Neem Foundation is a leading crisis response organization based in Nigeria that promotes the protection, wellbeing, and resilience of populations and communities living in contexts affected by conflict, violence, and fragility to strengthen their capacity to adopt inclusive approaches to recovery and mitigate future crises.

The Neem Foundation designs and delivers reintegration and stabilization services that target displaced communities as well as former associates of violent armed groups.

With specialties in psychological and mental health services, the team developed an understanding of violent extremism in order to help former fighters with the process of deradicalization, collaborating with the government of Borno State to offer a holistic program of psychological counselling, faith-based services, and vocational training to former members of violent extremist groups.

Through its advocacy and communications work, the foundation aims to influence narratives and collaborate with stakeholders to promote social cohesion, reconciliation, and community action to maintain peace and progress.

The Neem Foundation’s education component advocates for, and improves access to, quality education for marginalized and disadvantaged groups, especially girls, while its research work leverages key partnerships with global research institutions to inform evidence-based approaches to crisis interventions.

Core Areas of Work:

  • Peacemaking
  • Crisis response
  • PVE, deradicalization, and reintegration

Stories & Features

She Builds Peace in Nigeria: Neem

Neem Foundation launched the She Builds Peace campaign in Borno State in March 2020 by convening women peacebuilders to discuss women’s participation in peace and security.

Exclude from RSS Neem Foundation She Builds Peace Countries
December 3, 2020
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Invisible Women: Gendered Dimensions of Return, Rehabilitation and Reintegration from Violent Extremism

This report contributes a gendered analysis of approaches to the disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration of women and girls associated with violent extremism. It highlights the gaps in current policies and practice, as well as the solutions that are emerging in part from the experiences and innovations of women-led civil society initiatives. The report concludes with practical recommendations for policymakers and programming guidance for practitioners.

Allamin Foundation AWAPSA C-Save ICAN Featured ICAN Updates Neem Foundation PAIMAN PVE Thematic Reports Rescue Me
January 11, 2019
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ICAN Pilots Training on Psychosocial Support with Neem Foundation

19 participants from 12 partner organizations from Iraq and Syria met in Beirut for a five-day training on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, designed jointly by ICAN’s Stacey Schamber and Dr. Abiye Iruayenama from the Neem Foundation.

ICAN Featured ICAN Updates Neem Foundation
August 14, 2018
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ICAN’s partner Fatima Akilu speaks to CSIS’s On Extremism

Voice of a Practitioner in Nigeria – Fatima Akilu Dr. Fatima Akilu, Executive Director of the NEEM Foundation, psychologist, and partner of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) discusses her role as the founder of the Nigerian government’s deradicalization program for former members of Boko Haram, the importance of psychological and social programming to […]

ICAN Updates Neem Foundation WASL Updates
July 30, 2016
Read Post ICAN’s partner Fatima Akilu speaks to CSIS’s On Extremism

Women hold the key to any peacebuilding initiatives as they experience the conflict in a totally different way from men. They have been silently bearing the brunt as mothers, wives, sisters, participants and saviors, yet they are still excluded from the solutions table.

– Dr. Fatima Akilu Founder, Neem Foundation, Nigeria

More Countries & Partners

OUR PARTNERS MAP
Women Relief Aid (WRA) South Sudan

Women Relief Aid (WRA) is a women-led, non-governmental, nonprofit, non-political, and non-religious organization based in South Sudan.

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Madaniya Sudan

Madaniya is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that was established in 2018 by a group of women activists in Sudan.

Read Post Madaniya
Kareemat Center Syria

Kareemat Center is an organization that supports conflict-affected Syrian women and children who sought refuge in Turkey.

Read Post Kareemat Center
Mobaderoon Syria

Mobaderoon is a Syrian organization that works to promote active citizenship and build trust to support and sustain peaceful coexistence.

Read Post Mobaderoon