Photo File: African traditional leaders

Traditional and cultural leaders from across Africa have pledged to intensify efforts to combat gender-based violence, GBV.

The pledge was made on Monday in Lagos at the Conference of African Traditional and Cultural Leaders on GBV Prevention, convened by the Ford Foundation and UN Women in partnership with the Government of Nigeria.

Participants at the conference include monarchs, policymakers, development partners, and civil society actors, who advanced community-driven solutions to gender-based violence.

The conference was informed by the recognition that sustainable approaches to GBV prevention must be anchored on cultural systems and traditional institutions, which shape social norms across African communities.

Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, who represented the Governor of Lagos State, described gender-based violence as a major social crisis requiring urgent and deliberate action.

Abayomi, who stressed that silence enables abuse, called for laws and community structures that protect, rather than harm women and girls.

Also speaking at the event, Ford Foundation President, Heather Gerken, emphasised the importance of engaging traditional institutions to drive social change.

Gerken noted that collaboration with traditional and faith leaders is essential to dismantling harmful practices and promoting the dignity and rights of women and girls.

In the same vein, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, expressed concern that many practices accepted as tradition are, in reality, forms of abuse.

Gumbonzvanda insisted that gender-based violence is a symptom of deeper structural inequalities that must be addressed through stronger norms and institutions that guarantee justice and equality.

UN Women’s Regional Director, Dr. Maxime Houinato, while highlighting the central role of culture in African societies, stated that traditional leaders are key architects of social order whose alignment with justice and equality can significantly improve community safety.

Noting that culture is dynamic and shaped by those entrusted to preserve it, Dr. Chichi Aniagolu, of the Ford Foundation, pointed out that efforts to end harmful practices ultimately reinforce, rather than weaken, traditional authority.

The Emir of Shonga, HRH Alhaji Dr. Haliru Yahaya Ndanusa, who cautioned against the misuse of religion to justify violence, stressed that any action causing harm contradicts religious principles.

In the same vein, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, urged traditional rulers to leverage their influence to protect lives and transform communities by championing dignity, equality, and justice.

Other speakers who spoke at the conference, as well as the participants, reaffirmed that traditional and cultural leaders must play critical roles in challenging harmful norms and strengthening prevention and response mechanisms to GBV.

The conference is expected to conclude with the adoption of a Regional Declaration and Communiqué outlining shared commitments to end gender-based violence, as well as a Sustainability Roadmap aimed at integrating traditional leadership into long-term national and regional prevention strategies.

It is expected that the outcomes would strengthen partnerships among traditional institutions, governments, African Union bodies, and civil society, improve survivor-centred support systems at the community level, and enhance coordinated resource mobilisation to combat GBV across Africa.

Royal fathers at the conference include His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, the Emir of Fika, the Emir of Shonga, and Chief Siansali of Zimbabwe.