Nuru’s Partnership with Humanity Crew Strengthens Regional Resilience in the Sahel Region of Africa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 7, 2025

Contact: Matt Lineal | media@iamnuru.org

OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO–The Nuru Collective and Humanity Crew (HC) took the first step in establishing a West Africa Preparedness Hub through a ten-day joint workshop held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, August 17-27, 2025. Supported by the Vitol Foundation, this capacity strengthening event convened representatives from six organizations within the Nuru Collective. This marked a substantial milestone in the partnership to integrate Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) into sustainable development interventions, with a focus on Nuru Burkina Faso and a wider regional impact to Nuru organizations in Benin, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo.

Nuru Collective and Humanity Crew Team members listen to presenters

Humanity Crew and Nuru formalized their West Africa partnership in a multi-year memorandum of understanding commemorated in January 2025, following a successful collaboration between Nuru and HC in northeast Nigeria in 2024. The collaboration convenes partners to focus on those living amid the urgent crisis facing the Sahel, as growing conflict has contributed to regional instability and widespread displacement. By strengthening rural livelihoods and market systems, Nuru works to cultivate resilience and hope in communities at this precarious stability tipping point–caught between relative peace on one side and expanding conflict on the other. In alignment with Nuru, HC is dedicated to ensuring these communities receive critical MHPSS to overcome vulnerabilities and foster functional resilience.

“Shared values make lasting partnership. We believe that individual human potential is the foundation of collective strength. The most impactful solutions are not the silver bullets. Well-intended one-offs are flashes in the pan for fragile states. Holistic interventions are durable. They enable people to lift up themselves and others in their own communities. HC and Nuru partnered on the belief in agency – the will of people and communities to unlock their own potential and future by addressing the multiple vulnerabilities that they face today.” – Nuru CIO Matt Lineal

Workshop Launches Regional Collaboration

The immersive workshop brought together over 30 individuals, including Nuru teams from countries forming Nuru’s West Africa Resilience Corridor—Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, and the future Nuru Togo—alongside established teams from Nuru Nigeria and technical experts from HC and Nuru (US). The atmosphere was one of high energy, engaged participation, and strong team cohesion.

HC trainers led specialized MHPSS and formative research modules designed to equip local leaders and Nuru teams with essential skills for identifying distress and providing immediate support. Key areas of instruction included Psychological First Aid (PFA), empathetic listening, and the fundamentals of needs assessment and solutions ideation on a behavior change approach. PFA training is recognized as an essential foundation for frontline workers and local leaders, as it promotes a mindful, compassionate approach that builds trust within conflict-impacted communities.

Nuru Collective and Humanity Crew Team members listen to presenters

A major focus was on integrating psychosocial understanding into intervention design and community engagement through specialized tools. HC introduced the rigorous “seven stages of analysis” framework for community engagement, covering problem perception, identifying decision-makers, and addressing social barriers. Participants also learned the FOAM method (focus, opportunity, ability, motivation) for preparing effective research questions. Learning was immediately put into practice through engaging role-playing exercises that simulated challenging community interactions.

Recognizing the difficult operating environments in West Africa, a critical component of the event included Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT), covering essential survival skills such as self-defense, first aid, and situational awareness. This session provided an invaluable forum for cross-Nuru dialogue on adapting security protocols to evolving threats. Participants received HC certifications as well as course completion for HEAT.

“Partnerships grounded in shared purpose create lasting change. At Humanity Crew, we believe that mental health is a foundation for resilience, it enables people not only to survive crises, but to rebuild and lead their own recovery. Our collaboration with Nuru reflects a shared commitment to addressing the root causes of vulnerability through holistic, community-led approaches. By integrating mental health into every layer of preparedness and development, we are strengthening the collective capacity of communities to face challenges with dignity, hope, and functional resilience.” – Sharon Yabilsu-Guyuk, Preparedness Hubs Manager, Humanity Crew

Alignment with Strategic Priorities

The workshop outcome, equipping local staff to conduct trauma-informed assessments and implement integrated interventions, ensures that future development efforts are not just about economic opportunities, but are deeply intertwined with mental health, strengthening community resilience in a complex and fragile region.

In addition to being supportive of Nuru’s mission and expansion across West Africa, the success of the Ouagadougou workshop strongly aligns with the core missions of both HC and the Vitol Foundation.

For HC, a non-profit dedicated to integrating mental health and psychosocial support into crisis response, the event served as a crucial step in fulfilling its commitment to capacity building and the development of Preparedness Hubs. By delivering specialized MHPSS trainings and creating a community of trained frontline  workers across six countries, HC is actively strengthening local systems and advancing resilience-strengthening strategies. The foundational training and resulting manual pave the way for establishing the inaugural Nuru-supported Preparedness Hub proposed for Burkina Faso, a core strategy for ensuring long-term MHPSS impact.

The initiative simultaneously supports the strategy of the Vitol Foundation. The Foundation’s longstanding commitment is to prioritizing community-based solutions and specifically addressing mental health and wellbeing. The grant supports the goal of generating MHPSS data and focusing on multidimensional challenges, particularly adolescent-specific issues in Burkina Faso. By merging HC’s MHPSS expertise with Nuru’s trauma-aware livelihoods approach, the intervention addresses multi-dimensional needs and reduces the fragmentation that often undermines support for adolescents.

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About Nuru:

Nuru is a global collective that enables inclusive and sustainable prosperity by identifying communities at the stability tipping point, strengthening rural livelihoods and market systems, and fostering stabilizing connections that repair social fabric and pave a pathway to peace. Nuru envisions a world without cycles of unjust poverty, where resilience and hope are cultivated in the most marginalized communities. The Nuru Collective has local organizations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Nigeria. Learn more by visiting www.nuruinternational.org.

About Humanity Crew:

Humanity Crew is a pioneering Mental Health Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) organization committed to responding to trauma in children, families, and communities affected by crises. The specialization in emergency MHPSS and training, focuses on creating positive narratives during the critical “golden hour” after traumatic events, significantly reducing the risk of long-term stress-related disorders. Mental Health is central to our mission, embedded in every aspect of a Humanity Crew crisis response. www.humanitycrew.org