THEME: “ONE SHARED FUTURE: NEW AND ACCELERATED PROCESS FOR WOMEN’S ALL-ROUND DEVELOPMENT”
On behalf of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, I bring warm greetings and deep appreciation to the Government of the People’s Republic of China and UN Women for convening this timely and visionary Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women. It is an honour to present Nigeria’s progress at a time when accelerating transformation for women and girls has become an urgent global imperative.
The year 2025 marks several significant milestones — 80 years of the United Nations, 30 years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 25 years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and 30 years of the Global Social Development Agenda. These historic moments reaffirm that the advancement of women remains central to achieving peace, prosperity, and sustainable development.
In direct response to the 1995 Beijing Conference, Nigeria established the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development as the national institutional mechanism for gender equality and social inclusion. This structure continues to serve as the cornerstone for coordinating national actions, mainstreaming gender, and safeguarding the rights of women, children, and vulnerable groups.
While Nigeria has made remarkable progress, challenges remain. Guided by President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the country is implementing far-reaching reforms that place women, children, families, and other vulnerable populations at the heart of national renewal. The government has consolidated key frameworks, including the National Gender Policy (2021–2026), the National Women’s Economic Empowerment Policy (2023), the National Policy on Ending Child Marriage, and the Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (2025–2030). These instruments are designed to expand opportunities, protect rights, build resilience, and attract increased investment.
To translate these frameworks into tangible outcomes, Nigeria launched the Renewed Hope Social Impact Interventions–774 (RH-SII-774), a coordinated national delivery platform operating across all 774 local government areas. This initiative integrates nine mutually reinforcing pillars focused on women’s empowerment, child protection, and family strengthening.
These programmes are already transforming local economies, promoting inclusion, and demonstrating the effectiveness of large-scale gender-responsive interventions. Notably, Nigeria is advancing women’s representation in politics through the Special Reserved Seats Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly and strongly supported by the Federal Government.
To fully realize these ambitions, Nigeria must bridge an estimated $1.2 billion funding gap over the next five years. The government is therefore mobilizing blended finance, deepening private sector partnerships, and leveraging impact investment instruments to sustain these transformative initiatives.
As we gather once again in Beijing — the cradle of the global women’s movement — Nigeria reaffirms that empowering women is not a gesture of charity but a strategic investment in productivity, peace, and shared prosperity. Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, we have moved from commitment to concrete action, ensuring that no woman is unseen, no girl unheard, no child forgotten, and no family left behind.
May today’s discussions and partnerships pave the way for accelerated progress toward women’s full and all-round development.
ADEOLA KUNLE
