The second phase of the Gender Equality Program (GEP II) successfully enhanced the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act in Ondo State, Nigeria. The VAPP act provides a legal framework for the protection of all citizens against all forms of violence. This includes vulnerable people such as women, girls, children, youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

GEP II built on the gains made with the implementation of the Commonwealth Equality Project (CEP) and the first phase of the project – GEP I – which ran from August 2021 to March 2022.

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Building on the gains made under the Commonwealth Equality Project (CEP), this programme supported the implementation of the VAPP law in two further states – Osun and Ondo – where the law had been recently passed. Implementation needed to be effectively guided and facilitated to enable maximum impact. Training of first-line officials to professionally engage with survivors of violence, as well as committing key stakeholders to effectively implementation was paramount. Importantly citizens needed to be aware of the existence of the laws passed to protect them, and modalities for engaging the process. 

Between October 2020 and March 2021, WFD and Kaleidoscope Trust (KT) implemented the Commonwealth Equality Project (CEP) – funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). CEP facilitated the tackling of violence against women and girls through helping the passage of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law in Oyo State. CEP supported the Oyo State House of Assembly to review the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Bill and pass the same into law, sensitised stakeholders at the grassroots on the VAPP Act, and conducted a national research on the implementation of the act as a guide for other states yet to domesticate it. 

Beyond intervention at the state level, WFD commissioned a national research on the implementation of the VAPP Act, and other related laws and how it has protected women and girls across Nigerian states. The presentation of the report of this research to the public further reinvigorated the passage of such laws in other States of Nigeria.

WFD worked with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) to watch political parties from an inclusion lens as Nigeria prepared for the 2023 general elections. WFD supported evidence-based and creative efforts to enable more democratic and inclusive practices by the political parties. Findings will be used after the 2023 general election to engage with and strengthen political parties’ internal party systems, accountability, and democratic practices. This built on the series of policy dialogues on topical national concerns, which WFD convened, to generate policy briefs for legislative actions and advocacy for credible electoral laws. This is while advancing support for more open and inclusive political parties in Nigeria through evidenced assessment of political parties’ performance, as well as via technical support to the National Assembly on PLS. The understanding of the concept of PLS by staff and members is a fundamental first step to its integration in the legislative process.

WFD, with funding from the European Union, and in partnership with the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) implemented a three-year programme christened #OurVoteCountsNG. The overall goal of the programme was increasing the participation of youths, women, and persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in elections. It contributed to this goal by creating awareness among underrepresented groups using targeted messaging conveyed through peer-to-peer voter education strategy about the electoral process, particularly in hard-to-reach communities.  Working closely with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and women networks, the project built the confidence of citizens in the electoral process and made them realize the importance of their votes to the process. The peer-to-peer strategy entails building the capacity of young people to reach out and engage with their peers, as well as women reaching out to fellow women; thereby strengthening active, responsive, participatory, and engaged citizenry. 

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. To mitigate this challenge, huge changes at all levels of society, politics and businesses are required. Ahead of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), WFD and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) implemented a programme to inform parliamentarians in five Sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, of COP26 issues. The January to June 2021 programme supported parliamentarians in Nigeria to examine their national progress in delivering Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The programme also helped the MPs scrutinise Nigeria’s national climate policies and legislations.  

Working with youth-focused civil society organisations, as well as formal youth bodies, Politics with Values (PwV) Network and the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF), the programme showed young people how they can support campaigns that advocate for greater youth participation and engage with political institutions. WFD and the UK political parties shared a range of experiences on youth participation from the UK and other countries where WFD works. The combination of grassroots campaigning and high-level advocacy contributed to the efforts at addressing the low levels of youth participation and representation in Nigeria by encouraging more youth-led policy initiatives and better inter-generational partnerships.

Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), WFD was part of the consortium that implemented the flagship, five-year Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) programme. Working at the national level and in 3 States – Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna – WFD supported constituencies to influence governments about the services they received, and any policies related to them. To achieve this, WFD supported the use of evidence-based research for policy recommendations related to the budget process in the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly in Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna, with lessons replicated in other State Assemblies. Among other achievements, the consortium successfully supported the advocacy for State Houses of Assembly’s financial autonomy, and developed implementation mechanism to be adopted by the state assemblies.