The Federal Government has announced plans to establish an Emergency Gender-Based Violence, GBV, Response Fund to tackle Nigeria’s wide funding gaps in prevention efforts and survivor support services.
Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, made the announcement on Monday in Abuja during a high-level engagement marking the 2025 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The event was held in partnership with Women for Women International.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the fund had become urgent, as less than 0.5 per cent of Nigeria’s national budget currently goes toward GBV prevention and response. She noted that safe spaces and survivor support centres across the country remain severely under-resourced. The minister raised concern over the increasing incidents of attacks on women and girls, citing recent abductions of schoolchildren in Kebbi and Niger States and the kidnapping of six female directors. These incidents, she said, highlight a national emergency.
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Quoting the National Demographic and Health Survey, the minister revealed that 28 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence, while 40 per cent have suffered emotional abuse. Yet the national conviction rate for GBV remains below five per cent.
The new fund will form part of the Ministry’s 9-Pillar Renewed Hope Social Impact Intervention Programme, aimed at strengthening institutions, expanding safe spaces, and improving justice delivery through specialised gender desks and courts in all states. She added that the government hopes to raise the conviction rate to 25 per cent by 2026 and plans to establish comprehensive support centres in every senatorial district.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim commended recent landmark convictions and called for a compassionate review of Ochanya’s case. She urged stakeholders including government agencies, donors, civil society, traditional and religious leaders, and the media to align with the National Action Plan.
UN Women Representative Ms Beatrice Eyong stressed the need for stronger enforcement of GBV laws, while Women for Women International CEO Thelma Ekiyor pledged collaboration to scale proven intervention models across Nigeria.
