The CLEEN Foundation has on Tuesday commenced a three-day state-level dialogue to advance gender-responsive policy and institutional practice in Kaduna State.

The dialogue is organised with support from the Norwegian Government through the Norwegian Royal Embassy in Abuja.

The programme brought together government officials, security agencies, civil society organisations, women-led groups and other stakeholders to examine gaps between gender policies and implementation.

The Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Peter Maduoma, said Nigeria had established substantial policy and institutional frameworks to advance gender equality and women’s participation.

Mr Maduoma, represented by Justina Johnson, the foundation’s Senior Finance and Administration Manager, said implementation remained a major challenge despite existing policies and laws.

He identified weak institutional ownership, inadequate resources, fragmented coordination and insufficient gender-disaggregated data as factors limiting effective implementation.

He said others included weak accountability mechanisms and uneven capacity among state and non-state actors responsible for implementing gender-responsive policies.

Mr Maduoma said the dialogue was designed as a policy-to-practice platform rather than a conventional awareness-raising meeting.

He said participants would examine how gender-responsive commitments were reflected in institutional policies, budgets, programmes and operational practices.

According to him, the meeting will provide opportunities for policy reflection, institutional accountability, evidence sharing and practical action planning.

He said the dialogue would assess institutional gaps and opportunities in translating gender commitments into policies, programmes, budgets and operational practices.

The executive director added that the programme would strengthen the capacity of legislators, ministries, departments and agencies, as well as policymakers.

He stated that the dialogue would also promote collaboration among stakeholders working to advance gender equality, women’s empowerment and participation in governance and development.

Mr Maduoma said participants would adopt an evidence-to-action approach structured around four questions concerning existing commitments, implementation, institutional gaps and practical solutions.

He noted that the discussions would combine evidence presentations, institutional reflections, policy discussions and sector-specific sessions involving civil society and women-led organisations.

“The expected outputs include a state-level gender policy and institutional practice dialogue outcome, a gender-responsive governance action matrix and a cross-state policy and practice synthesis report,” he said.

Mr Maduoma added that the programme was expected to strengthen institutional ownership, improve coordination and increase the integration of gender considerations into planning and budgeting.

He said the dialogue would promote greater participation of women and women-led organisations in policy processes and improve accountability for implementing gender-responsive policies.

He assured their donor that the CLEEN Foundation and its state partners would continue to uphold professionalism and integrity in implementing the project.

In his goodwill message, Abdulkadir Yahaya of the Kaduna State Police Command stressed the importance of collective responsibility in addressing gender-related challenges.

Mr Yahaya said no single institution could effectively resolve the challenges surrounding gender issues without collaboration among security agencies, government institutions, civil society and communities.

He described the partnership as consistent with the principles of community policing and service to humanity.

According to him, collective action can enable stakeholders to address challenges more quickly and effectively than individual institutions working independently.

Helen Musa of the Gender Desk, Kaduna State Ministry of Women Affairs, expressed hope that the dialogue would produce useful discussions and bring positive changes to society.

Also speaking, Kim Magaji, representing the Kaduna State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, James Kanyip, said the ministry had identified gaps in addressing gender policy issues.

Mr Kanyip said the Ministry of Justice was constituting a vibrant and strong gender unit to strengthen institutional responses to gender-related issues.

He said collaboration with relevant stakeholders would be critical to improving access to justice and addressing challenges affecting women and other vulnerable groups.

The Chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Kaduna State Branch, Olufunke Bamikole, called for stronger implementation of gender-responsive policies.

Ms Bamikole said relevant institutions must be adequately funded to effectively promote and protect the rights of women and children.

She urged participants to remain proactive and ensure that lessons and commitments from the three-day dialogue were translated into concrete actions.

Earlier, CLEEN Foundation’s Programme Director, Salaudeen Hasheem, presented a performance appraisal framework for the Women, Peace and Security State Action Plan.

Mr Hasheem said the appraisal was designed to establish a unified basis for assessing implementation progress and identifying critical gaps across participating states.

He identified participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery as the four pillars of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

The programme director said women’s participation in decision-making, peace processes and conflict-resolution mechanisms remained central to sustainable peacebuilding.

He added that the effective implementation also required protecting women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, particularly during emergencies and humanitarian crises.

Mr Hasheem added that prevention strategies should strengthen legal protections, support local peace initiatives and address factors contributing to violence against women.

He said relief and recovery interventions must adopt gender-sensitive approaches that address the specific needs of women and girls.

According to him, a major challenge across focal states is dependence on external donors and the absence of dedicated domestic budget lines for implementation.

He said Kaduna’s challenge was no longer the existence of a Women, Peace and Security action plan but translating the framework into everyday institutional practice.

Mr Hasheem said the real measure of progress should be the extent to which institutions demonstrate practical changes because of the State Action Plan.

He called for stronger budgeting, coordination, accountability and measurable outcomes in implementing gender-responsive policies and Women, Peace and Security commitments.

The three-day dialogue is expected to generate state-specific recommendations and commitments to strengthen gender-responsive governance, peace, security and justice programming in Kaduna State.

(NAN)