NIGERIAN FEMINISTS TRACE THE PATH FROM GRASSROOTS ACTION TO NATIONAL LAW AT WOMEN DELIVER 2026

Emmanuel Olonade

Melbourne — Nigerian women’s rights organisations are not just advocating for change  they are actively shaping laws, influencing policy systems, and delivering measurable results for women and girls. This was the central message at a high-level dialogue convened by ActionAid Nigeria under its Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership (RWVL) Project on the sidelines of Women Deliver 2026.

The session, themed “From Grassroots to Global Impact: How Nigeria Women’s Rights Organisations Are Influencing Laws and Delivering Results for Women and Girls,” brought global attention to the growing pipeline between community-led action and national policy reforms in Nigeria.

Opening the conversation, Jevone Nicholas, representing Global Affairs Canada, outlined the agency’s strategic commitment to investing in women’s rights organisations as drivers of systemic change. He emphasised that the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) initiative is designed to confront injustice against women through sustained support for feminist movements, noting that the Renewed WVL (RWVL) project is already building on this foundation  scaling impact in Nigeria while contributing to global momentum for gender equality.

In a powerful keynote,  Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, a Feminist Activist and Co-Founder of the African omen’s Development Fund and Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement spoke on The Power of Collective and Women’s Organising in Influencing Policies and Systems. She outlined how Nigerian women’s movements leverage organising, coalition building and advocacy to shift laws and institutional practices.

Providing insight into implementation, Suwaiba Dankabo Muhammad, Deputy Country Director/Director of Programmes and Policy, ActionAid Nigeria  presented evidence from the field, demonstrating how grassroots interventions are translating into policy outcomes. From community monitoring shaping state legislation to local budget tracking influencing public spending on gender equality, she positioned RWVL as a bridge between lived realities and governance systems.

Moderating the panel on “The Work Behind the Impact,” Toun Okewale Sonaiya, Board Chair, Women Radio WFM 91.7 and Executive Director, Voice of Women Empowerment Foundation  steered a solutions-driven conversation on what it takes to convert advocacy into outcomes. Panelists pointed to urgent priorities, including stronger legal protections for women human rights defenders, long-term funding for advocacy, and better integration of community-generated data into national policy processes.

On the frontlines of this work, Dr. Christy Abayomi, Executive Director, Global Hope for Women and Children, highlighted how community paralegals are documenting rights violations and feeding critical evidence into policy development. Barrister Ebere Ifendu, President, Women in Politics Forum, added that increasing women’s political participation remains essential, stressing the need to leverage legal frameworks to expand representation.

Further reinforcing the link between funding and impact, Niri Tong Goyit, Project Manager, RWVL project, explained how flexible financing for women’s rights organisations is enabling evidence-based advocacy that drives state-level policy adoption, including the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act.

Participants during the audience spotlight echoed shared challenges around resourcing while also pointing to the resilience and adaptability of feminist movements across contexts.

Openin the session, Dr Se-ember Oteyi, Gender Advisor RWVL project anchored the dialogue with a compelling narrative, she acknowledged Nigerian women and girls, their courage and resilience and shone a light on the movements that carry their voices from local struggles to global platforms, proving that lasting impact begins at the grassroots.

Noro Bature in her closing remarks delivered a strong call to action, reminding stakeholders that real change begins within communities driven by the voices and courage of women and girls who refuse to accept injustice and urged governments, funders, and communities to strengthen women’s organisations and movements to sustain and scale transformative change.

As global conversations on gender equality continue to evolve, the RWVL dialogue made one thing clear: the future of policy reform is being shaped from the ground up — by organised, resourced, and resilient women’s movements.

The Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership Project, implemented by ActionAid Nigeria with funding from Global Affairs Canada, currently supports over 136 women’s rights organisations across Nigeria, advancing gender equality through coordinated advocacy, legal reform, and community-driven action.