Nigeria has highlighted its major women empowerment and social protection initiatives at the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, reaffirming the country’s commitment to advancing gender equality and inclusive development.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, presented Nigeria’s position during the global meeting, according to a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by the Head of Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Ahmed Danbazau.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who led a Nigerian delegation to the summit, said the Federal Government was implementing wide-ranging programmes aimed at improving the welfare of citizens, particularly women and children.
Addressing the meeting on behalf of Nigeria, the minister said the country aligned with the statement of the African Group and reiterated its commitment to advancing gender equality, women’s empowerment, inclusive justice, rights protection and sustainable development.
She described gender equality as a key driver of national stability, prosperity and shared progress.
According to the minister, the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has prioritised family and social protection policies under the Renewed Hope Agenda, declaring 2026 as Nigeria’s “Year of Families and Social Development”.
She explained that the initiative aims to strengthen family systems, empower women and improve the protection of children nationwide.
“Under the leadership of our President, Nigeria’s social protection architecture has expanded significantly from under one million households in 2015 to almost 10 million in 2026,” she said.
“With women constituting more than 70 per cent of primary beneficiaries, this represents one of the most significant social protection expansions in Nigeria’s post-independence history.”
Sulaiman-Ibrahim also highlighted the Renewed Hope Social Impact Interventions 774, describing it as the largest locally driven investment programme for women empowerment in the country.
According to her, the initiative includes livelihood support, financial inclusion programmes, digital empowerment and clean energy access aimed at supporting women and vulnerable households across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
The minister also unveiled the Happy Woman App, part of the Women Digital Harmony Initiative, which she said was designed to connect more than 20 million Nigerian women with opportunities, information and mentorship networks.
On gender-based violence, she said Nigeria had strengthened institutional responses through the establishment of a national electronic dashboard to improve coordination, monitoring and accountability.
She added that the government was also scaling up prevention programmes and survivor-support systems to address emerging threats such as technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said Nigeria was promoting the care economy as a pathway to gender equality and inclusive economic growth through policies recognising unpaid care work.
She noted that the policies were aimed at reducing unpaid care responsibilities while expanding childcare, eldercare and social support services to enhance women’s economic participation.
The minister said Nigeria’s gender equality efforts were anchored on several legal and policy frameworks, including the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, the Child Rights Act, the National Gender Policy and the National Women’s Economic Empowerment Policy.
She also noted that the government had adopted an affirmative procurement system to increase access for women-owned businesses to public contracts within Nigeria’s procurement framework.
Despite the progress, the minister acknowledged that women’s representation in parliament remained below 10 per cent but expressed optimism that the proposed Reserved Special Seats Bill would improve political participation.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim further disclosed that the World Bank-supported Nigeria for Women Programme was targeting about 4.5 million beneficiaries through initiatives aimed at boosting income generation and addressing harmful social norms.
She reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to working with international partners to accelerate progress on gender equality and expand opportunities for women and girls globally.
NAN
