Strengthening Women’s Empowerment Platforms and Social Initiatives through Intersectional SBCC: Experiences, Outcomes and lessons from the Nigeria for Women Project.

Nigerian women face multiple deprivations around climate change issues, gender-based violence (GBV), inadequate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities, and poor RMNCAH+N outcomes without strategic Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) approaches to address them. 

The Nigeria for Women Project is a strategic long-term partnership between the Federal Government and the World Bank to support the government's goal of ensuring gender equality in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Kebbi, Ogun, Niger, and Taraba States. The first phase of the project successfully developed and tested the WAG model, an adaptation of women's self-help groups, as a platform for addressing key constraints to women's social and economic empowerment at the community and household levels. In recognition of its viable nature, the project pilot-tested an innovative layered SBCC on the WAG model for improving behaviours related to GBV prevention, health, WASH, and climate adaptation, which was tested to provide key lessons for scaling to other states.

Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) provided technical support for the NFWP Social Norms Marketing and Gender-Based Violence prevention components.  Pre- and post-assessments were conducted among WAG members to evaluate the effect of layered intervention on the component. Results revealed significant positive shifts across all four thematic areas, indicating that integrating strategies that address social norms and barriers related to gender into existing social structures boosts understanding and stimulates action in the community. 

This paper relates findings on the effectiveness of an innovative, layered SBCC model conveyed through the NFWP's established WAG platforms.