UN Women has launched a significant call for applications aimed at bolstering women’s leadership and political representation across Nigeria. This initiative seeks to partner with Nigerian women, government agencies, political parties, and civil society organizations to establish a constitutional gender quota for elective and appointive positions, addressing the long-standing issue of underrepresentation.
Empowering Women in Nigerian Politics: UN Women’s New Initiative
UN Women is actively seeking applications for its Advancing Women’s Inclusion and Representation in Leadership and Political Processes Program. This program is designed to foster partnerships with diverse Nigerian women, communities, relevant government ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as cultural and traditional leaders, political parties, women’s movements, coalitions, networks, and organizations. The goal is to catalyze actions that will enhance women’s representation through the establishment of a constitutional gender quota in both elective and appointive positions.
Key Objectives and Strategies
The program emphasizes both short-term and long-term strategies to achieve its objectives:
- Short-term strategies: These focus on supporting legislative reforms, removing barriers to women’s political participation, and engaging male political leaders as champions for gender-related issues and women’s empowerment initiatives, including advocacy for affirmative action legislation.
- Long-term interventions: These aim to increase the capacity of elected and appointed women leaders, expand their resources and networks, and institutionalize gender-responsive policies and practices to create an enabling environment for effective women’s participation in leadership and political processes.
Proposals must demonstrate innovative ideas, activities, and strategies implemented through a mix of civil society/citizen-led advocacy and multimedia initiatives. A core principle guiding implementation is "leaving no one behind," with a specific focus on addressing the lack of representation for women living with disabilities.
Funding and Eligibility
UN Women, with funding from the Governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, will award a single grant of up to One Hundred and Fifty Million (150,000,000) Naira for an eight-month period to a successful Consortium Lead/Prime Partner.
Eligibility Criteria for Organizations:
- Must be legally registered non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nigeria.
- Proven track record in promoting women’s political participation and the rights of women and girls, including young women and women with disabilities.
- Strong understanding of the specific local context in targeted areas.
- At least 5 years of operation with a minimum of 3 years of specific experience in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) programming.
- Strong experience in program management and implementation, particularly in women’s leadership and political empowerment.
- Experience in partnership/working with relevant government agencies, institutions, communities, religious and traditional leaders, women’s movements, local CSOs and CBOs, media, and the private sector at both state and federal levels.
- Experience working with gatekeepers such as male champions of gender equality, religious, and traditional leaders.
Eligibility Criteria for Team Leader:
- Must be a Nigerian national with a master’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development Studies, Social Sciences, Politics, Law, Human Rights, Gender, Women Studies, Economics, Monitoring, and Evaluation, or a related field. A Ph.D. is an added advantage.
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in overseeing and leading the implementation of elections, women’s rights, gender equality, and women’s political participation programs.
- Substantive experience in managing and implementing similar projects.
- Proven experience in producing coherent, clear analytic reports and knowledge products.
- Excellent communication skills and fluency in English and other local languages.
Ineligibility Criteria:
- Current UN Women Advance Women Political Participation Implementing Partners are not eligible to respond to this Call and must not be part of any consortia.
Key Takeaways
- UN Women is seeking applications to advance women’s leadership and political representation in Nigeria.
- The program aims to establish a constitutional gender quota for women in elective and appointive positions.
- Both short-term (legislative reform, barrier removal) and long-term (capacity building, network expansion) strategies are in focus.
- Proposals must be innovative and address the representation of women, including those with disabilities.
- A single grant of up to 150,000,000 Naira will be awarded for an eight-month period.
- Eligible organizations must be registered Nigerian NGOs with a strong track record in GEWE programming.
- The team leader must be a Nigerian national with a relevant master’s degree and at least 5 years of experience.
- Current UN Women Advance Women Political Participation Implementing Partners are ineligible.
