Mariam Al Hammadi is Director General of NAMA Women Advancement. She has spent more than a decade leading humanitarian and development programmes across 25+ countries, with a focus on women’s empowerment, sustainability, and locally rooted impact. NAMA Women Advancement is a Sharjah-based organisation dedicated to bridging global gender gaps and creating opportunities for women to thrive and reach their full potential locally and globally.
Over the past decade, my work in philanthropy and women’s empowerment has taught me that real change happens when women and the organisations that serve them are equipped, trusted, and empowered locally.
Since I joined NAMA Women Advancement as director general, the organisation has worked to reinforce and expand on a philosophy that has long defined its mission: placing trust and resources in women-led organisations as catalysts for systemic change.
This mission is rooted in the vision of Sharjah and the guidance of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chair of NAMA, whose leadership has consistently championed women as central drivers of social and economic progress.
Our NGO Empowerment Programme in Tanzania began in December 2024 as a four-year initiative introduced in response to a pressing reality that civil society organisations across the region are seeing donor funds shrink, increased competition for grants, and rising demands from the communities they serve.
Tanzania became a natural focus for us because of its strong network of women-led NGOs, its active civil society ecosystem, and the clear gaps we observed between local impact and institutional resilience.
We work in both Tanzania and Zanzibar, across diverse contexts with a view to strengthening organisations that are already deeply embedded and trusted in their communities.
"By investing in local leadership and institutional strength, we help women transform not only their own lives but the trajectory of entire nations."
Our programmes there are jointly funded by NAMA Women Advancement and NAMA Foundation, an international grant provider based in Malaysia focused on advancing sustainable development, and is implemented in partnership with NICE Tanzania, a multidisciplinary NGO with deep local roots, known for equipping grassroots organisations with tools for sustainability, leadership, and income diversification.
NICE Tanzania, operating under the supervision of NICE Global Impact (an Indonesian-headquartered social enterprise focussed on community building) brings decades of on-ground experience, and its understanding of the local operating environment allows us to identify the precise institutional gaps that prevent NGOs from scaling their work sustainably.
These NGOs are deeply embedded in their communities, yet many face challenges: limited funding, reliance on donor grants, stretched operational capacity, and gaps in strategic planning.
Through our programme, we support by providing tailored training, mentorship, and access to interest-free social loans that help organisations launch income-generating initiatives and reduce dependency on external donors.
Across Tanzania, 400 NGO representatives will receive capacity-building training, and 20 organisations will leave the programme with fully developed strategic plans, setting them on a path to long-term sustainability.
In practical terms, this means:
- Women-led NGOs learning to run income-generating ventures
- More predictable and diversified revenue streams
- Reduced reliance on limited donor cycles
- Stronger leadership teams with the capacity to mentor others
- Organisations able to deliver more consistent, higher-quality services to low-income women
One community-based organisation in Zanzibar supporting widows and other vulnerable members of the community illustrates our impact. They have successfully developed and adopted a clear strategic plan, which has provided a roadmap for their activities. This has enabled them to better align their programs with their mission and has made them more appealing to potential donors.
This programme represents NAMA's shift to align with the global localisation movement, which places emphasis on empowering local actors.
Grassroots organisations, by their nature, are closely connected to their communities as they mobilise local volunteers and professionals for collective action. However, these local entities often require more institutional support, which typically tends to be overlooked by donors whose primary focus is on the beneficiaries, not on the local organisations that support the beneficiaries.
There is an urgent need to fund and support women-led NGOs. A report released last May by UN Women revealed that 90 percent of more than 400 surveyed organisations have been drastically impacted by reduced funding. As a result, almost half said they expected to cease operations within six months, and most have already suspended their work.
Now more than ever, communities need the invaluable interventions made possible through women’s NGO’s, who address some of the greatest challenges despite the overwhelming odds. In fact, despite their vital work, these organisations are the most underfunded. According to the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) less than one per cent of global aid goes directly to women’s rights organisations.
Another success story is a Dar es Salaam–based NGO, which supports hospital patients by covering medical expenses and providing essential support to patients. It previously relied heavily on sporadic donations and did not have a systematic approach to fundraising or managing donor relationships.
The NGO struggled with resource mobilisation and maintaining consistent funding for their crucial services. But through our programme the team received training on fundraising and donor relationship management, and learned how to identify potential donors, craft compelling proposals, and build long-term relationships with funding partners.
We hope to continue these efforts over the next two years, during which 25 NGOs will receive social loans to launch income-generating activities, an essential step in breaking cycles of donor dependency and creating self-sustaining institutions.
Our work in Tanzania also informs NAMA’s broader strategy. By prioritising local leadership, systemic capacity, and ecosystem-wide collaboration, we help ensure that interventions endure beyond direct support, enabling women to lead confidently and communities to thrive sustainably.
The Tanzania programme demonstrates that when we invest in local women-led organisations, the ripple effects extend far beyond immediate beneficiaries, strengthening societies and shaping futures.
At NAMA, we are committed to ensuring women-led organisations are valuable contributors in their communities, economies, and societies. By investing in local leadership and institutional strength, we help women transform not only their own lives but the trajectory of entire nations.
Join us in investing not just in women, but in the institutions that work tirelessly to support them.
