Project profile — ADVANCE: Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria

This project aims to increase women’s participation, election, and appointment in the 2023 electoral cycle and in subsequent years, specifically for young women in Nigeria. The project seeks to achieve this by improving gender-responsive laws and policies, supporting women to engage directly in politics and enhancing coordination among key stakeholders. Project activities include: (1) working with key stakeholders, including legislators and political parties to promote gender-responsive reforms such as gender quotas in national and state level legislatures; (2) building the capacity, leadership skills and networks of women candidates running for political office in 2023; and (3) engaging men champions, traditional leaders and communities to contribute to a more supportive environment for women’s political representation, including by preventing and responding to violence against women in politics. The project aims to directly benefit 235,000 people (of whom 200,750 are women) and indirectly benefit 5 million people (of whom 3.9 million are women) across Nigeria.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) an improved gender-responsive legal environment, including through the implementation of gender-responsive policies by political/democratic institutions at state and federal levels in Nigeria; (2) increased women’s participation in political processes and leadership in elective and appointive positions at ward and federal levels in Nigeria; and (3) enhanced coordination between women’s political empowerment partners and key stakeholder groups in project communities to strengthen collaboration and partnerships promoting women’s political leadership.

Results achieved as of December 2024 include: (1) supported the advancement of a constitutional amendment proposing 74 reserved seats for women. This amendment passed second reading at the House of Representatives, with 36 State Assembly leaders committing to advocate for its adoption at the state level; (2) supported the finalization of the harmonized Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOB) and secured commitments from 11 State Houses of Assembly and traditional leaders to support its passage once transmitted from the National Assembly; (3) supported the election of 171 women into leadership positions across local government councils; (4) secured the reintroduction of gender-responsive budgeting language in the 2024/2025 Budget and supported the development of a national Gender-Responsive Budgeting Policy and Guideline; and (5) secured commitment from 34 executive from key media house to promote gender-sensitive political reporting and improve visibility for women in leadership and governance. These outcomes represent meaningful and sustainable progress towards increased women’s participation and influence in governance across Nigeria.