Gambo Maina Bawa is a passionate gender-equality advocate and a beneficiary of the YouthLab Fellowship in the Child Marriage Cluster.
As a young boy who grew up in a community where children face lots of challenges, ranging from rape to child marriages to lack of quality education, he took it upon himself to be a beacon of change in his community.
Gambo is a passionate changemaker dedicated to empowering children and uplifting communities. As the founder of Maina & Kids Children Foundation, he works tirelessly to provide vulnerable children with opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. His initiatives, like the SafeNet Ambassadors program, focus on promoting digital safety and education for the next generation. With a strong focus on collaboration and community impact, Gambo partners with organizations and individuals to drive solutions that matter. His work reflects his belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, and that small actions can lead to big transformations.
As a Youth Lab Fellow mini grant recipient, he launched the “Uban Gari, Makamin Yarinya: Fathers Against Child Marriage” project, a Hausa phrase meaning “The Village Father, A Girl’s Shield.”
His initiative focuses on ending child marriage by actively involving fathers and men in rural communities. Gambo believes that meaningful change begins when men understand their role as protectors and advocates for the rights of girls. “When fathers understand the importance of protecting and educating their daughters, they become powerful voices for change”.
The project reached over 300 fathers and potential fathers across Sakwaya, Kudai, and Modobi communities in Dutse, Jigawa State. Through interactive dialogues, workshops, and storytelling sessions, they were inspired to see that real strength and responsibility as a man include standing up for the rights and future of girls.
The initiative positioned fathers not only as protectors within their families but also as community advocates, “shields” for girls and women who now lead conversations to end child marriage and gender-based violence. By reshaping how masculinity and responsibility are perceived, his project is fostering a new generation of male allies committed to building safer, more equitable communities for girls and women.
During his project, he empathetically intervened by taking a 2 year old baby from the community to town who was suffering from severe malaria and untreated for 10 days which result in becoming anemic. According to the nurses at the hospital, she would have passed away in a few days if she wasn’t brought in. This scenario shows Gambo was not just ticking boxes for his project but observant, saw a problem that needed immediate resolution and swung into action.
Through his leadership and culturally grounded approach, Gambo Maina Bawa exemplifies how engaging men as partners in advocacy can drive sustainable social change and accelerate the movement to end violence against women and girls.
