UN Women has commended Nigeria for the significant progress it has made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action, especially in women’s political participation, economic empowerment, education, and the fight against gender-based violence.
UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong gave the commendation in Abuja on Monday at a high-level consultation on Nigeria’s Beijing+30 Report Review in preparation for the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69).
Eyong explained that despite the progress made, there are still emerging challenges that require collective action to drive transformative change, restating UN Women’s commitment to support Nigeria in fast-tracking gender-responsive policies.
She said: “This consultation is a crucial step in ensuring that Nigeria’s national report for CSW69 is inclusive, reflective of diverse perspectives, and aligned with the realities of women and girls across the country.
“Your participation today—whether from government, civil society, academia, or the development sector—demonstrates our shared commitment to reviewing our progress, identifying key priorities, and shaping strategic recommendations that will contribute to Nigeria’s gender equality agenda beyond Beijing+30.
“At UN Women, we remain steadfast in our support to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and all stakeholders in accelerating gender-responsive policies, strengthening women’s leadership, and ensuring sustained progress on the commitments made under the BPfA.”
According to the UN Women Country Representative, Nigeria needs to assess its achievements, challenges, and emerging priorities in preparation for the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69).
She noted that: “This consultation is an essential follow-up to the initial report drafted in November 2024, providing a platform to comprehensively enrich and refine the document through a participatory and inclusive approach. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, in collaboration with UN Women and key stakeholders, has demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring that Nigeria’s report is not only robust and reflective of our national realities but also aligned with global best practices.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women, remains one of the most comprehensive global policy frameworks for achieving gender equality.”
She said that constitution identified 12 critical areas of concern that require urgent action, including Women and poverty, Education and training of women, Women and health, Violence against women, and Women and armed conflict.
Other areas she listed were Women and the economy, Women in power and decision-making, Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, Human rights of women, Women and the media, Women and the environment, as well as the girl child.
Also speaking Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who was represented by the Director Women Development, Mrs. Friya Bulus, pointed out that the platform creates an avenue to celebrate the achievements being made by Nigeria, and the way forward as a country.
She said: “We are here today to recognize the progress we’ve made, Beijing plus 30, and to assess our performance, to look at the report we’ve been able to put together, to assess our areas of challenges, look at what we need to push out as best practices over the years, and also look at what has constituted major challenges to women economic empowerment and gender equality.
“Our strategic review today of Nigeria’s progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action over the 30 years is very, very strategic.”
She however implored participants to critically look at the reports that have been produced over time, because it took some concerted efforts to put together the Beijing Plus 30 report for Nigeria.
