On International Women’s Day 2025, Arise Nigeria Coordinator Chinomso Osuji reflects on what accelerating action for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls truly means in practical terms, especially for those in rural communities across Nigeria.
Achieving gender equality is not a one-size-fits-all approach; it is deeply context-specific, varying across individuals, communities, and cultures. A comprehensive, gender-responsive strategy that prioritises rights, equity, and empowerment is critical to ensuring that no woman or girl is left behind, and that vulnerability to trafficking for women and girls is reduced.
In rural southern Nigeria, true empowerment requires engaging traditional rulers to end harmful practices like child marriage, expanding quality education, removing economic barriers, and ensuring access to farmland. Establishing schools, hospitals, and vocational training centres, along with providing start-up capital, fosters sustainable economic independence for Nigerian women and their families. Whilst in the East of the country, women-owned businesses need access to larger markets and micro-credits. Improved road infrastructure and rural processing facilities would create jobs, reduce post-harvest losses, and drive economic growth.
In northern Nigeria, violent conflicts have displaced 3 million people, leaving women and girls in camps for internally displaced people without essentials like housing, clean water, healthcare, and education. Providing safe farmland, farming tools, and economic opportunities will restore livelihoods and financial independence. Addressing the root causes of displacement—terrorist attacks, conflicts, and communal clashes—will reduce vulnerabilities that expose women to trafficking.
Throughout the country Nigeria’s rising inflation and economic difficulties have intensified hardships for many citizens, making basic necessities increasingly unaffordable. In recent years, there has been an increase in reports of cases of human trafficking, especially child trafficking, on local news and social media, and the alarming level of hunger is seen daily on the streets. According to the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria ranks 110 out of 127 nations, with a food inflation surge of 40.87%, whilst a World Bank policy brief indicates that 10 million Nigerians have been pushed into poverty.
This reflects a complex interplay of various factors. Gender inequalities drive limited access to education and restricted economic opportunities make women and girls the most vulnerable to the effects of rising inflation, unemployment, and widening economic disparities. These harsh economic conditions are making it increasingly difficult for families to afford their basic necessities. This hardship increases the vulnerability of women and girls to trafficking, and financial desperation leads individuals to accept risky job offers that can result in exploitation. Additionally, a lack of access to education and economic opportunities limits choices and can force women and girls into precarious situations. Forced migration in search of better opportunities exposes women to traffickers who may promise employment but instead subject them to forced labor, sexual exploitation, or domestic servitude.
Potential Solutions
A combination of evidence-based strategies, context-specific empowerment initiatives, and effective government policies—supported by strong institutions—is key to effectively empowering women and girls. This approach can help mitigate the impact of economic hardship and, in turn, combat human trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls.
Initiatives of Arise frontline partners in Nigeria to break the cycle of poverty, vulnerability and trafficking include:
Providing economic opportunities for women through entrepreneurship programs, skills training, and access to financial resources.
Strengthening education and awareness to equip women and girls with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves.
Creating safe migration pathways to prevent exploitation while seeking work opportunities abroad.
Advocating for policies that address gender inequality, economic injustice, and trafficking prevention.
Establishing Community Action and Community Help groups.
Accurate and relevant data is central in driving impactful interventions
To accelerate gender equality and women empowerment, interventions must be evidence based. Without accurate data, targeting beneficiaries becomes inefficient, resources may be misallocated and interventions risk failing due to ineffective solution design. Recognising this, Arise has developed a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning app. This innovative tool allows project leaders to capture real-time data to assess the effectiveness of interventions and also provides a clearer understanding of the realities faced by the communities they serve.
In addition to these efforts, over the last four years Arise has actively supported 33 women-led projects in rural areas that address the vulnerabilities that lead to human trafficking. These initiatives provided economic opportunities, education, skills training, and safe spaces for at-risk women and girls, helping to break cycles of exploitation and create pathways to financial independence and security.
True progress in gender equality demands a commitment to evidence-based, context-specific and homegrown solutions that address the diverse challenges faced by women and girls across Nigeria. By adopting a holistic and data-driven approach, we can accelerate action to gender equality and create sustainable change—ensuring that no woman or girl is left behind.
As we mark International Women’s Day 2025, we must commit to accelerating action against economic hardship and human trafficking. By ensuring that women and girls have access to economic opportunities, education, and protection from exploitation, we take a critical step toward their rights, equality, and empowerment. Through a coordinated, data-driven, and gender-responsive approach, we can build a future where all women and girls in Nigeria are safe, empowered, and free from exploitation.
Chinomso Osuji is Arise Nigeria Coordinator. Based in Lagos, she has 8 years of experience in human rights and development in Nigeria. Focusing on issues ranging from child labour to health, democracy and governance, Chinomso has worked for both local and international organisations in Nigeria, including the UNDP, UNODC and ILO.
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