The African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), and other regional stakeholders, have convened the West Africa Women’s Political Leadership Forum to accelerate women’s political participation and leadership across the sub-region. 

The co-convener of the network, Mme Bineta Diop, while speaking during the high-level Women’s Political Leadership Forum on Friday in Abuja, said despite existing national, regional and continental commitments to gender equality, women’s political representation in West Africa remained low, with the gender  occupying only 15.5 per cent of parliamentary seats as of 2024. 

She noted that the expected outcomes of the forum included the adoption of the Abuja Regional Action Agenda on Accelerating Women’s Political Participation, the development of a regional roadmap towards ECOWAS’ 2035 gender parity goal, and stronger regional accountability mechanisms. 

“Participants are also expected to identify priority reforms and scalable initiatives that will strengthen women’s leadership and ensure they play a greater role in shaping democratic governance across West Africa,” he said.

The director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Regional Programme for Africa, Jide Okeke, called for greater investment in women’s political leadership, describing women as “critical drivers of peace, security and sustainable development across Africa.” 

Okeke said women’s representation in politics remained unacceptably low despite their proven contributions to leadership and development, adding that women currently occupy only 18.4 percent of parliamentary seats across West Africa, a figure he described as “discouraging.” 

He, however, commended the ECOWAS Commission for its efforts to promote gender parity through the recently endorsed presidential declaration, expressing optimism that effective implementation of the framework would gradually improve women’s political representation across the sub-region.

Also, the vice president of ECOWAS Commission, Mme Damtien Tchintchibidja pledged to develop a regional roadmap to accelerate women’s political participation, noting that the process must be driven through collaboration with member states, civil society organisations, women leaders and regional networks.