The Advance: Women Political Participation in Nigeria Project recently held a two-day capacity-building workshop for media professionals in Lagos State. The training was designed to equip media practitioners with the tools to positively portray female politicians and promote women’s political participation across Nigeria.

The active engagement and diversity of participants reflected a shared commitment to advancing gender equality and empowering women in leadership. We’re excited to see how their voices and platforms will help shape a more inclusive political landscape.

GentiMedia recently hosted a captivating exploration of language and storytelling in radio dramas at the renowned Goethe-Institut Nigeria. The event, which took place on Saturday, March 2nd, 2024, featured ARDA DCI and other esteemed industry leaders, making it an unforgettable journey into the world of radio storytelling.

The distinguished panel included our very ARDA’s Executive Director, Alison Data Phido, who shared her expertise and experiences accumulated over two decades of crafting unforgettable stories. Alison’s deep understanding of indigenous languages has resonated profoundly with audiences, making her insights invaluable to aspiring storytellers.

Attendees were treated to a dynamic discussion during the exhibition and workshop, followed by a captivating listening session featuring iconic radio dramas such as “Safe Journey,” “Boomerang,” and “Taxi Driver.” These timeless classics have left an indelible mark on the radio landscape and continue to inspire storytellers today.

It was indeed a memorable experience, delving into the magic of storytelling through the airwaves.

#OfTonguesAndVoices #RadioDrama #GentiMedia #AfricanVoices #ARDA #GentiAudioApp #GotheInstitut #RadioLegends #MTN #GentiMedia #RadioNigeria

“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.”- Michelle Obama

Empowering women is the bedrock of attaining a sustainable future and it is key to the development of any community.

Now more than ever, key stakeholders and decisions makers must channel resources to improve womens access to economic empowerment, and sustainable livelihood in other to create an equitable society.

Canada Funds for Local Initiatives in partnership with ARDA continues to economically empower the women in Agatu LGA, Benue State through their sustainable livelihood initiatives.

These initiatives have increased women’s access to economic empowerment, and has built their capacity to contribute to effectively to peacebuilding processes community development.

#CommunityDevelopment

#BreaktheBias

#WomeninPeaceBuilding

#WomenInclusion

In celebration of the #InternationalWomensDay today, ARDA produced a short video documentary highlighting the contributions of women in 6 NorthCentral and North West States in promoting peace under the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP) project.

Some of them have also shared how digital technology has helped them to contribute to peacebuilding on their community which is inline with the UN #IWD2023 theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.”

As a women-led organisation we recognise the significant contributions of women in achieving the future we desire. And we remain committed to empowering women to enhance their contributions to the growth and development of their communities.

#IWD2023

#EmbraceEquity

#PowerOn

ARDA is particularly excited about this project because it is an idea that was birthed a while ago to fill the gap in producing riveting movies that call attention to development issues in an educative and entertaining manner. ARDA has always remained committed to issues that affect women and so it was pertinent that we use our movie to address the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Gender Based Violence (GBV), Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), Child marriage, Sexism, workplace inequalities and other key issues affecting women and girls. This movie is sure to capture the audience’s attention and hopefully inspire more people to abandon agelong practices that restrict women and girls from achieving their full potential in society. The movie tells a gripping story of a heroine who after surviving a horrible childhood becomes a vigilante passionate about fighting social injustice against women and girls. We handpicked some A-list Nigerian actors such as Mercy Aigbe, Adedimeji Lateef, Jide Kosoko and many other talented acts to help tell our story. While we are very excited for the premiere and release of this masterpiece, we also implore you to eagerly #Anticipate. 

The sustainable livelihood project was aimed at building the capacity of grassroot community women in Agatu Local Government Area to sustainably facilitate peace promotion and women’s empowerment in their communities. The project further aimed to create  platforms for discussions around the social inclusion of women in peacebuilding and decision-making processes; to increase the capacity of grassroots women and men to collaborate, organize and advocate for peace and equitable social inclusion through strategic events in their community; to deepen the engagement of women in critical discussions around peacebuilding and increased social inclusion of women; to increase community support for women’s inclusion in decision-making processes through media and community peace initiatives.

The media initiative was a 10 episode live interactive radio program hosted in native language, Idoma and titled ‘Anya Ojilima’, (Women of Influence). The CFLI project engaged 50 direct beneficiaries comprising 30 women and 20 men who held discussions on ways to increase and show support for women’s activities in peacebuilding. The groups which had 10 members each included an apex group called the Obagaji Women’s Critical Discussion Group (WCDG) who were the direct beneficiaries of the rice milling machine. The women met weekly to discuss various themes central to peacebuilding. The weekly meetings were facilitated by the women using a discussion guide which helped lead discussions as they listened to the radio programs. The radio program addressed topics on sustainable livelihoods and the importance of women’s social inclusion in peacebuilding and decision-making processes.

During ARDA’s recent field visit to the Obagaji women, the women reported that since receiving the rice milling machine from the livelihood initiative, they had started generating some income. The women shared that they were making over NGN8,000 per day and had set up a joint account which they plan to use to empower fellow women in their community. The women also disclosed that their status within the community had improved in leaps and bounds since they started their business, and are encouraged to continue to amplify their voices on peacebuilding. ARDA is indeed proud of the women’s growth and confident that these women would positively influence other women and men in their community to recognise the contributions women can make in peacebuilding and development and include them in such conversations.

ARDA has launched its second season of CIPP social media campaign on the various social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. This time, the campaign is focused on the theme ‘’Promoting Positive Electoral Behaviour’’. You will agree that there is no better time than now to start sensitizing Nigerians, especially the youth on the need to embrace peace and shun violence as the 2023 Nigeria general elections approach. Ahead of the launch, ARDA held an interactive design workshop with social media influencers from the 6 project States to design a campaign strategy and creative content to drive the campaign messages. The influencers provided insights on how best to engage the online audience and positively influence them to navigate the election processes peacefully. The campaign so far has been successful with over 4,973,060 million impressions and 2,693,488 reach within the first month of the campaign.