Oluremi Odunsi: Gender Equality Advocate in Nigeria Leading the Way in Preventing GBV and Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship

By Sola Adepitan

One prominent advocate for gender equality and socio-economic development in Nigeria is Oluremi Odunsi. She is actively engaging citizens from both cities and villages in discourse about women’s empowerment and their safety through her initiatives that involve policy advocacy, community engagement, and building capacity.

Oluremi Odunsi was born in Ibadan on October 13, 1968. She is the daughter of Chief Stephen Olukunle Bakare and the late Evangelist Deborah Bakare. Oluremi Odunsi graduated from St. Teresa College and studied at the Obafemi Awolowo University, ACCA, Lagos Business School, ACT UK, EDHEC Business School, Harvard Business School, and MIT Sloan Executive Education. She holds an ACCA Fellowship and is an Institute of Consulting fellow.

In recent times, Odunsi has emphasized efforts in recording the trends of gender-based violence and advocating for effective protective policies, safe channels for reporting, and survivor-focused services. It is believed that she has been able to encourage data-based assessment of needs and risk reduction strategies to ensure greater access to justice and vital services by victims due to her involvement with NGOs, governments, and other development stakeholders.

In economic issues, Odunsi has become an advocate of women entrepreneurs. She has emphasized measures that would help enhance their access to finances, financial literacy, mentorship, and markets through the value chain approach while considering the impact of technology and financial services on the matter. Childcare, mobility, and utility cost have been considered as important factors in determining business practices, and Odunsi has encouraged conversations in this regard.

Policy discourses have also received insights from Odunsi. She has taken part in discussions reviewing the state of gender parity initiatives as well as GBV prevention strategies, where her team has tracked and reported results of policy implementation to policy makers and other stakeholders involved. There have been greater incidences of gender budgeting, monitoring, and evaluation practices during the planning process at the local government and community level, a situation partly credited to her interactions with various sectors.

Industry observers attribute Odunsi’s success to multi-stakeholder cooperation instead of individual endeavors. The result of her activities has manifested through pilots, adaptations, and scaling up interventions consistent with national policies aimed at achieving gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. Accounts of her documenting and reporting have focused on systemic efforts to address GBV and provide support services for victims amid the difficulties facing women entrepreneurship.