A Nigerian NGO, Boys Champions, has won $30,000 as a runner-up in the inaugural Pankaj Award to End Conflict for its efforts to prevent gender-based violence and promote peaceful, gender-equal communities.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boys Champions, Mr Noel Alumona, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday.
The Pankaj Award to End Conflict, established by Prof. Selva Pankaj and Dr Tharshiny Pankaj, is a $250,000 funding initiative by Regent Global to support young leaders addressing the root causes of conflict.
The inaugural award provides funding to all 10 finalists, with the overall winner receiving $100,000.
Alumona said the award, presented by Regent Global in partnership with One Young World, was announced at the One Young World Summit 2026 holding in Cape Town, South Africa.
According to him, the summit, which runs from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6, brought together more than 2,200 young leaders from over 190 countries to exchange ideas and develop solutions to global challenges.
“Boys Champions was represented at the summit by its Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Noel Ifeanyi Alumona, who was among 10 international finalists recognised for their contributions to conflict prevention, peacebuilding and the protection of marginalised communities,” he said.
He said Boys Champions was recognised for its approach to preventing violence by shaping the values, attitudes and behaviours of boys and young men.
“Since its establishment in 2018, the organisation has reached more than 20,000 boys across Nigeria through programmes promoting gender equality, positive masculinity and violence prevention,” Alumona added.
Alumona, a United Nations award winner, explained that the recognition belonged to the organisation’s team, partners, supporters and communities that had continued to support its peacebuilding efforts.
He said preventing violence required more than responding to incidents after they occurred, stressing the need to invest in boys and young men and challenge harmful social norms.
Alumona said the organisation believed that boys and young men had important roles to play in building safer and more equal communities.
He said the $30,000 prize money would support the expansion of its violence prevention and positive masculinity programmes, strengthen community engagement and enable it to reach more young people.
According to him, the recognition had placed Nigerian-led violence prevention initiatives within the wider international conversation on youth participation and community-based peacebuilding.
He appreciated Regent Global and One Young World for recognising and supporting young peacebuilders.
