Meet Yetunde: Advancing Community Resilience in Nigeria

We are pleased to introduce Yetunde, GCERF’s National Adviser in Nigeria. She is a seasoned development professional dedicated to fostering locally led initiatives that prevent violent extremism and strengthen community resilience.

Yetunde holds a Master’s degree in Water and Environmental Management from WEDC, UK, and an MEng in Civil Engineering. She brings over 20 years of experience working with think tanks, NGOs, government institutions, and multilateral and bilateral organisations across Nigeria, Senegal, the Netherlands, and beyond.

Her expertise spans learning and adaptation, monitoring and evaluation, community management, and project management, applied across WASH, health and nutrition, governance, and P/CVE programming. In Nigeria, she has worked extensively with UNICEF, the National Planning Commission, the EU Delegation, DFID governance projects, and GCERF initiatives, supporting local communities and civil society partners in North Central and North West regions.

At GCERF, Yetunde has played a pivotal role in strengthening partnerships between civil society and government institutions, particularly the operational P/CVE department of NCTC-ONSA. She has supported grantees in scaling up pilot initiatives, fostering knowledge sharing through the PAVE network, and co-creating transition strategies to develop three key components: a P/CVE Knowledge Innovation and Resource Hub, State and Local Action Plans through technical working groups, and private sector partnerships to create sustainable, community-led economic models. These initiatives include resilient community cooperatives, value chain linkages, and blended funding solutions to engage women and youth at scale.

“GCERF has lived up to its promise of supporting innovation through adaptive programming, which is critical in countering complex, multi-layered community vulnerabilities in Nigeria,” Yetunde says. “I have been empowered to navigate the country’s political economy and support the co-creation of a transition model that can scale and sustain P/CVE initiatives beyond past successful pilots.”

Through her work, Yetunde ensures that GCERF-supported programmes are locally relevant, strategically aligned, and impactful, helping communities across Nigeria build resilience, foster inclusion, and prevent violent extremism.