The Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (WF) was created in 2011 to increase the representation of women in Nigerian governance at all levels and address the growing concerns about the gender imbalance in elective and appointive positions. Nigeria currently falls short of the National Gender Policy benchmark of 35% minimum gender representation and other global and regional benchmarks to which the country is signatory. For instance, with the return to democratic governance in 1999, the number of women being elected in Nigeria steadily increased but since 2007 it has remained stagnant between 7-9% representation in the National Assembly, less than the average rate of female parliamentarians globally and in Sub-Saharan Africa which is 19% and 20% respectively.
The goal of the Fund is to institutionalize access to resources for women in politics in Nigeria. Its objectives are to:
The Fund’s start up grant was provided by the Office of the Senior Special Advisor to the President on the MDG’s (OSSAP-MDG’s). In order to sustain programmatic outcomes and meet their target objectives however there is a need to enlarge their financial resource pool through: the development/implementation of a fund raising strategy; compilation of a list of potential supporters; launch of a tokens donation agenda; organizing fund raising dinners; soliciting support from development partners; exploring investment opportunities and adapting viable portfolios.
Their Program Areas
The Fund’s focus is informed by its objectives above and will direct its resources to four areas in order to address the most critical issues affecting women’s political participation in Nigeria. The four focus areas are: