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Youth-led · Since 2018 · Northeast Nigeria

Empowering together, thriving forever.

DISCOD is a youth-led non-profit in Northeast Nigeria helping communities — especially youth, women and displaced families — plan, own and sustain their own development, from climate resilience and livelihoods to education, health and accountable governance.

Partner with usSee our work
  • CAC 7335341
  • 3 state offices
  • 15 communities with savings groups

Worked alongside

UNICEFPlan InternationalEuropean UnionFAWE Nigeria (Forum for African Women Educationalists)Open Government Partnership (OGP)CLEEN FoundationAmerican University of Nigeria (AUN)Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI)Sulayham Care Foundation (SCAF)Commonwealth Climate Change Development InitiativeNigeria Youth SDGs NetworkAdamawa State Planning CommissionAdamawa State Ministry of Health and Human DevelopmentAdamawa State Ministry of MRRRTaraba State Ministry of Youth and SportAA Dealers Oil & Gas Nig. Ltd.Catholic Relief Services (CRS)Management Sciences for Health (MSH)CHEDALTRInstitute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN)

Collaborations and partnerships. Logos are shown only with each partner’s written permission.

Who we are

We don't deliver development to communities. We build it with them.

Founded in 2018 by young leaders and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in February 2024, DISCOD works at the intersection of community development, climate resilience, livelihoods, social cohesion, democratic governance, education, health, gender inclusion and institutional strengthening. We treat communities not as beneficiaries, but as partners, planners, implementers and custodians of the solutions that affect their lives.

Communities where youth, women, displaced populations and other vulnerable groups participate meaningfully in decision-making, contribute to sustainable development, and actively support the provision and maintenance of adequate, inclusive, quality and relevant services.

DISCOD and Sulayham Care Foundation team members in vests standing in front of the PVC collection sensitisation banner
Members of the Damare Women SILC group with DISCOD staff and guests in a group photo
Community members, government officials and staff of IOM, UNHCR and DISCOD in a group photo outside the conference hall

Our impact

Numbers we can stand behind.

Every figure below comes from a specific piece of work. Follow any of them to the project it came from.

See our full impact

How we work

Five steps, every time.

The same sequence runs through every project, whichever thematic area it belongs to.

  1. Illustration of community members seated in a circle under a shade tree with empty speech bubbles rising above them

    Step 1

    Listen

    We start in the community — sitting with residents, leaders and women's groups to hear which problems matter most.

    Inclusive & participatory development

    Communities help define problems, design solutions, implement and monitor results.

  2. Illustration of several hands placing a tree, a house and a water drop onto a paper map laid on a woven mat

    Step 2

    Co-design

    Residents help shape the response, so the plan belongs to the community before a single activity begins.

    Youth & women's leadership

    Founded to remove barriers to youth and women's participation in decision-making — and still central to everything we do.

  3. Illustration of people planting a tree and raising a small structure together, with tools and a wheelbarrow

    Step 3

    Implement

    We deliver alongside community members and partners, not on their behalf.

    Accountability & good governance

    Transparent, accountable and inclusive systems, with communities engaging constructively with the institutions that serve them.

  4. Illustration of a clipboard with a bar chart, a magnifying glass and a tablet showing a rising line, arranged in a circle

    Step 4

    Measure (MEAL)

    We track what changed, share the findings openly and let the evidence correct the plan.

    Partnership & collaboration

    Displacement, climate change and poverty are too complex for any one organisation to solve alone.

  5. Illustration of a grown tree whose roots spread underground into a circle, with homes and people resting in its shade

    Step 5

    Sustain

    Local capacity and ownership carry the gains past the end of any project cycle.

    Community ownership & sustainability

    We build local capacity so gains last beyond individual project cycles.

What we do

Six thematic areas, one way of working.

Members of the Damare Women SILC group with DISCOD staff and guests in a group photo

Featured story

180 women. Three years of saving together.

Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA)

DISCOD has trained and established women's savings groups in 15 communities across Yola North, Yola South and Girei. In Damare, four groups of 45 members — 180 women — celebrated their third annual share-out.

  • 15communities with VSLA groups
  • 180women in Damare's four groups
  • 3years of continuous saving

Where we work

Three state offices, rooted in Adamawa.

Our work runs deepest in Adamawa, where DISCOD was founded, with state offices extending the reach into Taraba and Jigawa.

Browse all projects

Our journey

From one classroom in Namtari to three state offices.

  1. 2018

    DISCOD is founded

    Young leaders start DISCOD; first project ILIMI JARI equips 150 pupils in Namtari.

    See the project
  2. 2019

    Election observation

    Observers deployed across Adamawa State for the General Election with CLEEN Foundation.

    See the project
  3. 2021

    Tsangaya schools assessment

    Data collection across Yola North, Yola South and Girei under BESDA.

    See the project
  4. 2023

    Mosquito net campaign

    Community Mobilization Partner for the 2023 LLIN campaign across 45 communities and 30 primary schools in Fufore.

    See the project
  5. 2024

    CAC registration

    Registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC 7335341) in February 2024.

  6. 2024

    Learning materials & Tsangaya reform

    Ten primary schools supplied for World Children's Day; Tsangaya reform sensitisation in Fufore with EU, Plan International and FAWE support.

    See the project
  7. 2024

    Monthly health outreaches

    Monthly screening, testing and health education in communities across Adamawa, February 2024 to March 2025.

    See the project
  8. 2025

    Trees and savings

    Tree planting with JNI and AUN; Damare women's savings groups celebrate their third share-out.

    See the project
  9. 2025

    Durable Solutions coordination

    Became the CSO Coordination Body on Durable Solutions in Yola South (September).

    See the project
  10. 2026

    Your PVC, Your Voice

    Voter-card collection sensitisation in Yola South with Sulayham Care Foundation ahead of the 2027 elections.

    See the project
  11. 2026

    SIDPIN committee

    Inaugurated as a member of the SIDPIN Project Beneficiary Selection Committee (April).

    See the project

Latest news

What we have been doing.

From the field

The work, as it happened.

Partner with us

Let’s build resilient communities together.

We work with government, donors, civil society and communities — bringing local trust, data and delivery to the table.

Download capacity statementTalk to us
  • Mobilising communities around shared development priorities
  • Facilitating participatory planning and inclusive decision-making
  • Strengthening youth and women's leadership
  • Supporting dialogue between communities and institutions
  • Advancing climate resilience and adaptation awareness
  • Supporting livelihood and economic empowerment initiatives

Stay in touch

Occasional updates, no noise.

A short email when there is something real to report — a project milestone, a report, or an opportunity to get involved.

Sign-up opens shortly. In the meantime, email iscodinfo@gmail.com.

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