ECOWAS Targets Gender Parity by 2035 as Nigeria Pushes Women’s Leadership Reforms
ECOWAS has set a target of achieving gender parity across the bloc by 2035, with member states including Nigeria pursuing legislative and institutional reforms to expand women’s participation in political leadership, according to THISDAYLIVE.
The Economic Community of West African States, a 15-member regional bloc headquartered in Abuja, has long operated within a gender equality framework that calls for greater inclusion of women in decision-making across its member states. The new 2035 parity target adds a defined timeline to those long-standing ambitions, framing gender balance as a regional policy priority rather than a national option.
Nigeria, the bloc’s largest member state, has been identified as one of the countries pushing bold reforms aimed at boosting women’s political leadership. Nigerian women remain significantly underrepresented in the National Assembly and state legislatures, despite the country’s National Gender Policy, first adopted in 2006, which set a 35 percent affirmative action benchmark for women in public office. Successive governments have signalled support for the target, but implementation has lagged.
Reform efforts under discussion typically focus on party-level nomination rules, campaign financing, and constitutional provisions that shape candidacy and appointment. Regional peers have taken contrasting paths: Rwanda, often cited in West African debates, has legislated quotas that have produced one of the world’s highest shares of women in parliament, while several West African states continue to weigh whether binding quotas or voluntary party measures are the more effective route.
The ECOWAS framework now seeks to align national trajectories behind a single regional horizon. Whether the 2035 target translates into binding obligations or remains an aspirational benchmark will depend on the political will of national legislatures across the bloc, and on the pace at which Nigeria and its neighbours translate stated commitments into law.
Sources
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