From school clubs and sports programs to conversations about fatherhood and mental health, Boys Champions is working to change the everyday choices that shape relationships and communities.
ENUGU, NIGERIA | October 2026
For many boys, lessons about masculinity begin long before adulthood. They come from conversations at home, interactions with friends, experiences at school, and the expectations they encounter in their communities.
Some of those lessons encourage responsibility and care. Others teach boys to hide their emotions, respond aggressively to conflict, or believe that respect must be earned through dominance.
Boys Champions is working to change those expectations.
Since its establishment in 2018, the organization has reached thousands of boys and young men through programmes addressing gender equality, violence prevention, and mental wellbeing.
Its Boys to Men programme creates opportunities for participants to discuss relationships, emotions, peer pressure, and the responsibilities that come with growing up.
For Okoye Ezenwa, a participant in the programme, a mentor’s story about friendship offered an opportunity to reconsider the people he surrounds himself with.
He recalled that the story shared by Mentor Chimezie helped him understand why choosing good friends matters and encouraged him to think more carefully about the influences shaping his decisions.
Through Sports Against Violence, the organization also uses sporting activities to help boys practise emotional regulation, teamwork, and peaceful conflict resolution.
Participants such as Uche Omeje have described learning to manage anger and respond to disagreements without resorting to fights.
The organization’s work extends to adult men through DearMen and its fatherhood initiatives, which encourage conversations about relationships, family responsibilities, and the opportunities available to women and girls.
These experiences reflect a broader approach to violence prevention: addressing harmful expectations before they become entrenched behaviours.
Founder Noel Ifeanyi Alumona believes the most meaningful changes are often visible in ordinary moments.
“Sometimes the change we are looking for is a boy deciding not to fight when someone provokes him. Sometimes it is a father making sure his daughter stays in school or a young man learning that he can ask for help. These decisions may seem small, but they influence families, relationships, and communities. That is where much of our work begins.”
As Boys Champions expands its programmes, it is also working to strengthen how these changes are documented and evaluated.
The goal is not simply to reach more participants, but to understand how early interventions can contribute to healthier relationships and safer communities over time.