The study, published in June 2024, provides a desk review of existing evidence and research to inform potential Conflict Stability and Security Fund support to the Nigerian security sector to enhance women’s participation and inclusion. In particular, the study focuses on the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force to review evidence in the hopes of shedding light on the following questions:

1. What data is available about the composition of the Army, Navy, and Air Force), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), including gender, age, disability, ethnic, and geographical group (as well as intersections between these groups)?

2. What are the barriers facing women joining, being retained, and being promoted in the armed forces and police in Nigeria and West Africa? Are women barred from certain roles/units?

3. What evidence exists, from Nigeria, West Africa, or more broadly, relating to the operational benefits of the inclusion of women, or other marginalised groups (ethnicity, religion, disability, age), in the armed forces and police, or of their lack of inclusion having had a negative impact?

4. What initiatives have been effective in improving women's representation (and diversity and inclusion more broadly) in the armed forces in Nigeria and West Africa (if nothing on West Africa, evidence from elsewhere would be valuable)? Have there been any initiatives which have had a negative impact/caused backlash?

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Key findings include:

• AFN operational policies, regulations, and terms of service include provisions that are discriminatory or that limit women’s full and meaningful participation. For instance, restrictions on marriage and pregnancy as a condition for enlistment, limitations on the roles/duties into which women are deployed, and prohibitions affecting LGBT+ individuals
• Administrative and institutional practices limit women’s duties/roles and their access to decision-making levels.
• Gender discrimination within wider Nigerian society, including stigma and taboos surrounding military/uniformed women, deter women’s participation in the security sector.
• Women face specific challenges related to working in male-dominated, hierarchical institutions, which tend to normalise gender biases and sexual harassment.
• Recruitment campaigns have not deliberately targeted women and often reinforce the ‘masculine’ image of the military.
• Army institutional culture and administrative policy limits women to certain units.
• The establishment of the Nigerian Army Women’s Corps is the most significant recent initiative to expand women’s operational role.
• Women increasingly have access to equal opportunities in the Navy and serve in onboard duties, although their representation at senior levels remains low.
• The Air Force does not formally restrict women’s roles and duties, and equal opportunity is being encouraged.
• There are no longer any formal restrictions on women’s duties within the NPF; however, they remain concentrated within certain divisions.

Key recommendations include:

• Need for senior-level political commitment and coordination capacity.
• Importance of embedding reforms at the operational level.
• Need for proactive initiatives to address societal and cultural barriers to women’s recruitment and to support their retention and promotion.
• Greater investment is needed to build institutional capabilities and the competencies of key personnel on gender.
• Changing selection criteria and addressing gender stereotypes that disadvantage women or limit their roles.
• Introduce family and human resource policies that support gender equality.
• Recruitment and retention campaigns tailored specifically to women.
• Establishing special initiatives for women versus adapting the model for everyone.

Evidence of benefits to women's inclusion:

• Women personnel are required to perform certain tasks involving other women.
• Improving situational awareness, intelligence gathering, and constructive interaction with a larger segment of the local population.
• Increased trust, credibility, and legitimacy from the perspective of the local population.
• Improved conduct and ability to address SGBV.

To read the full story, see here

To read the full report, see here

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