The Women's Voice and Leadership (WVL) Nigeria Project, supported by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by ActionAid Nigeria, prioritised innovation in its approach to advancing gender equality and women's empowerment.
This innovation was integrated into project designs by women's rights organisations and also functioned as a distinct granting stream, the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). The SIF supported diverse initiatives from various organisations across Nigeria, addressing issues such as gender-based violence, women's economic empowerment, political participation, and sexual and reproductive health rights. Notable interventions included a virtual platform for adolescent girls' empowerment, a solar-powered e-learning system for secondary school girls, a mobile app for menstrual health tracking and sexual reproductive health information, and the use of film and theatre to raise awareness about postpartum depression.
Other innovative efforts focused on using storytelling for political advocacy, reintegrating adolescent mothers into schools, researching violence against women in politics, providing psychosocial support through digital platforms, combating discrimination against single mothers, and promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in electoral processes.
The project also tackled gender-based violence through sports, addressed maternal mental health, and linked climate change awareness with women's empowerment through alternative clean energy products. Additionally, it enhanced access to self-reliance and healthy rehabilitation for female inmates by training them in sanitary pad production. These varied approaches demonstrate the project's commitment to flexible, locally-driven solutions for sustainable change in women's rights in Nigeria