By Oluwakemi Kindness
Women across West Africa are facing financial barriers that make it difficult for them to compete for elective positions, with stakeholders calling for dedicated funding to give female aspirants a fairer chance in politics.
Following this, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has proposed the establishment of a women’s political endowment fund to help remove financial barriers limiting women’s participation in political leadership across the region.
The proposal formed part of the Abuja Action Agenda adopted at the Women’s Political Leadership Forum in Abuja, on Friday, themed, “Accelerating Gender Parity in Political Leadership in West Africa: From Commitment to Action.”
The forum was organised by the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) in partnership with the UNDP, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Nigeria’s Ministry of Women Affairs.
Jide Okeke, Director of UNDP Programmes for Africa, said women remained critical drivers of leadership, peace, security and sustainable development but continued to face barriers, particularly inadequate access to political financing.
He said women currently occupy only about 18 per cent of parliamentary seats across West Africa, describing the figure as inadequate.
Okeke said stronger collaboration among governments, development partners and the private sector was needed to establish sustainable financing mechanisms for women seeking elective offices.
“In countries like Nigeria, women are not asking for special treatment. They want a level playing field and an ecosystem that enables them to mobilise the same resources available to men,” he said.
Okeke urged stakeholders at the forum to consider endorsing dedicated funds to support women seeking political office.
“I hope we can endorse from this meeting the establishment of funds for promoting, helping and supporting women in politics,” he said.
The financial challenge was also highlighted by Liberia’s Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Gbeme Horace-Kollie.
She identified campaign financing as a major obstacle to women’s political participation and called for dedicated funding, reduced nomination fees and electoral reforms.
According to her, political parties should be required to provide equitable campaign funding and dedicated financial support for female candidates.
The Nigerian government also pointed to legal reforms as part of efforts to improve women’s representation.
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of Women Affairs, said the proposed Special Seats Bill is being reviewed to identify an effective legal framework capable of increasing women’s representation in elective offices.
She said gender equality should no longer be treated as an emotional debate but as an economic necessity.
“No nation can achieve inclusive development while women remain excluded from decisions shaping governance, peace and public investment,” the minister said.
For the ECOWAS Commission, the challenge requires more than political commitments.
Mme Damien Tchintchigbidja, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, said the regional body would support member states to translate gender commitments into national laws, institutional reforms and accountability mechanisms.
She said ECOWAS would establish a regional roadmap, strengthen partnerships, mobilise resources and develop mechanisms for monitoring progress.
“ECOWAS will provide the roadmap, but achieving gender parity requires collective ownership from governments and stakeholders,” she said.
Stakeholders also pointed to the importance of preparing women with the skills and networks needed to compete effectively.
Okeke said the UNDP was investing in women’s political capacity through its **Women’s Political Participation Academy**, which is expected to host 40 women political leaders from 28 countries in Kigali.
He added that the organisation’s **Africa Young Women Leaders Programme** had trained about 140 young women over the past five years and equipped them with skills for work in multilateral institutions and beyond.
AWLN Co-Convener, Mme Bineta Diop, said achieving gender parity required an ecosystem supported by effective laws, strong institutions, women’s movements, political parties and accountability.
Participants at the forum subsequently adopted the Abuja Action Agenda, committing governments, regional institutions and development partners to strengthen legislation, financing, mentorship, accountability and capacity-building to accelerate gender parity in political leadership across West Africa.
