Over 1m Women, Girls Benefit From WVL Project In FCT

A group, the Women’s Voice and Leadership Nigeria (WVL) project, has reached over one million women, girls, and their families in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the past five years.

The five-year initiative, funded by Global Affairs Canada and supported by ActionAid Nigeria, has strengthened women’s rights organisations and enhanced their capacity to advocate for policy changes and better the lives of women and girls.

Its notable achievements include addressing Gender-Based Violence/Violence Against Women and Girls, women’s economic empowerment programmes, and the inclusion of women in political and leadership spaces.

WVL Nigeria coordinator, North, Noro Bature, said the project has been instrumental in promoting women in political participation and leadership.

Bature, who spoke at the closeout and dissemination ceremony of the WVL project, organised by eight FCT WVL partners in Abuja, said, “The issues related to women’s political participation around getting the 35 percent Affirmative Action have been their struggle, and they are still working with the National Assembly to see how that will be achievable within this period.

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“Even if the project is rounding up, they will still use other opportunities as an organisation to see how the data is sorted out.”

Speaking on the challenges, the national president, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Aisha Ibrahim, cited inadequate funding, while advocating for increased funding for the association.

She said, “The problem associated with such programmes is funding. For organisations that are doing well, the partners should consider increasing the funding for this project because of the immense developments achieved so far.”

She urged women to participate in politics actively, saying, “I think we do not need to reiterate the need for women to participate in politics because politics is now. Policies and democracy have come to stay in Nigeria, and for women to get their rightful place, they must participate actively in the political processes in Nigeria.”