UrICEF Programs

What We Do

Four programs, one mission

Each URICEF program is built around a different edge of our mission — skills, teaching practice, child-led innovation and celebration — but all of them exist to reveal the beauty hidden in every child through education.

Our Hands, Our Future

URICEF SkillUP Project

This project is aimed at identifying, selecting and training 20 out-of-school children in the Kabusa and Kurudu underserved communities in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, with future-ready skills for the jobs of the future — regardless of their educational disadvantage. Beneficiaries are trained in shoemaking and bag-making skills.

Objectives of the SkillUP Project

Reduce child labour in Nasarawa State
Provide alternative education pathways for disadvantaged and at-risk children
Boost self-esteem and foster an independent, resourceful spirit among beneficiaries
Provide skilled workers who can contribute to local development
Build skillsets that create alternative income revenues
Provide opportunities for disposable income among out-of-school children
Establish viable income-generating avenues for re-entry into formal education, for beneficiaries who wish to further their education

Transforming Nasarawa Schools

Gender Responsive Teaching Project

Gender Responsive Teaching that works. This project trains Nasarawa State teachers in Gender Responsive Teaching, helping Nasarawa secondary schools transition to a Blended Professional Development model integrating the URICEF Teacher Professional Development framework.

How it works

Instead of relying on individual teachers to implement gender-responsive practice in isolation, URICEF anchors a Professional Learning Community (PLC) — a "cascade framework" — within each school, training the most resilient teachers to become "Master Mentors"
New or transferred teachers are onboarded internally by the school's own PLC, shifting the model from URICEF-to-teacher to school-to-teacher
Turns direct trainees into internal resource hubs, equipping teachers for sustainable, gender-responsive practice and lasting educational impact

Look Inward, Solve Forward

Your Story, Your Innovation

This project empowers children to become storytellers and problem-solvers who look inward, identify challenges in their own communities, and design locally relevant, scalable and sustainable solutions.

Specific objectives

Develop observation and critical-thinking skills — training children to look closely at their schools, homes, streets and markets to identify pressing social, environmental and economic problems in their community
Foster empathy through storytelling — enabling children to document and articulate community problems through their own lived experiences, giving voice to issues that are often overlooked
Promote innovation and creativity — guiding children from complaints to solutions through brainstorming, prototyping and developing low-cost, sustainable innovations
Build confidence and leadership capacity — strengthening self-esteem, public speaking and leadership by creating platforms for children to present their stories and innovations to peers, parents and stakeholders
Encourage civic responsibility and community participation — instilling ownership and active citizenship so children see themselves as agents of change rather than passive beneficiaries
Bridge the gap between learning and real-life application — connecting classroom knowledge in science, technology, art and English with practical, real-world problem-solving
Create a repository of child-led community solutions — documenting and showcasing child-driven innovations that communities, NGOs and government can adopt, scale or support
Promote inclusivity — ensuring every child, regardless of gender, background or ability, has equal opportunity to participate, tell their story and innovate

Every Year-End

URICEF Children's Party

Every end of year, URICEF brings children together to celebrate their uniqueness, giving them equitable platforms to showcase their potential and preparing them to step into the next program year with confidence.

Our Programs