Amandla, AWLN set for Beijing+30 Women’s Summit Dec. 9

The Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement (AIPLA), in partnership with the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN-Nigeria) and Womanifesto, will on 9 December convene the Beijing+30 Women’s Summit, a national gathering marking three decades of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA).

The event is one of the headline activities commemorating the 2025 edition of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

Designed to strengthen women’s movements across Nigeria, the summit will revisit the commitments made at the landmark 1995 Beijing International Women’s Conference, assess progress recorded over the years, and identify persistent gaps that continue to hinder gender equality.

With the theme, “Beijing+30 Women’s Summit – Holding the Line for Women’s Rights: Looking Back and Marching Forward,” the gathering aims to foster intergenerational dialogue, celebrate African women’s leadership, and mobilise collective action to advance feminist-centred rights issues.

Proceedings will open with welcome remarks from three prominent African feminists: Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Co-founder of the Amandla Institute; Professor Funmilayo Para-Mallam, Chair of AWLN-Nigeria; and Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi of Womanifesto.

Their interventions will anchor the day’s discussions before selected leaders and experts deliver goodwill messages. Two panel sessions will follow, focusing on women’s rights, abuses, and the rising incidence of gender-based violence in Nigeria.

The Beijing Conference remains a pivotal reference point for global gender advocacy. Although African women’s struggles were strongly highlighted by the summit’s Secretary-General, the decades since have produced uneven outcomes across the continent.

Several African countries have undertaken bold legislative and constitutional reforms: Rwanda now holds the world’s highest female parliamentary representation at 61.3%; Senegal has legislated a 50/50 gender parity law; Sierra Leone recently enacted a 30 per cent affirmative action law; and Uganda guarantees women’s representation in its constitution. Yet, Nigeria continues to grapple with severe disparities in access to resources, political participation, and economic opportunity, despite women forming an estimated 60–79 per cent of the rural workforce while owning far less land than men.

Organisers say these continental examples illustrate what becomes possible when political will aligns with women’s agency.

Against this backdrop, the Beijing+30 Women’s Summit seeks to reaffirm the relevance of the 1995 commitments, strengthen coordination among women’s organisations, renew advocacy around unresolved issues, and expand mentorship pathways that connect emerging and seasoned women leaders across the country.