The Women's Voice & Leadership (WVL) Nigeria project, launched in 2019 by ActionAid Nigeria with funding from Global Affairs Canada, aimed to advance human rights for women and girls by strengthening women's rights organisations and influencing policy in Nigeria.
The project utilised three unique funding streams: multi-year granting for long-term support to local women's rights organisations (LWROs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) , a Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to back novel initiatives beyond the core group of organisations, and a Strategic Opportunity Fund (SOF) for rapid responses to rights violations and unforeseen advocacy opportunities. Additionally, a COVID-19 Top-Up Fund was introduced to mitigate the pandemic's impact on women and girls, specifically addressing gender-based violence.
Through these grants, 182 women-led organisations across 24 states and the FCT received funding, reaching over 7.1 million women and girls, including those with disabilities. The interventions focused on addressing gender-based violence, promoting women's economic justice and empowerment, and increasing women's political participation and leadership, resulting in 47 influenced legislations and policies, 9,036 survivors of gender-based violence receiving services, and N408,802,652 saved by 13,911 women through community-based saving schemes. The project also facilitated 190 women becoming members of traditional leadership councils and reached over 1.5 million women and girls through economic justice initiatives.