December 10, 2025

As the world marks Human Rights Day 2025, Alliances for Africa (AfA) joins the global community to reflect on the state of human rights and calls on governments, institutions, and stakeholders at all levels to prioritise the protection and advancement of women and girls’ rights. This observance highlights the urgent need to challenge systemic discrimination, harmful practices, and structural inequalities that hinder the full realisation of rights for women and girls worldwide.

Across the world, women and girls continue to face significant barriers in accessing justice, education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and political participation. According to UNICEF, about 650 million women and girls alive today were married before the age of 18, limiting their opportunities for education and personal development. Violence against women remains pervasive, with 1 in 3 women worldwide experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. In Nigeria, these global trends are mirrored and deepened by entrenched patriarchal norms, weak justice systems, economic marginalisation, and cultural practices that violate the rights of women and girls.

Despite key national policies such as the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, the Child Rights Act, and the National Gender Policy, implementation remains slow and inconsistent. At state and local levels, socio-cultural resistance, inadequate funding, and weak enforcement mechanisms continue to undermine the protection and fulfilment of rights. Structural factors including conflict, climate change, and rising insecurity further increase the vulnerability of women and girls to violence, exploitation, and poverty, widening the gender inequality gap.

Alliances for Africa emphasises that women and girls’ rights are human rights, and protecting these rights is fundamental to building peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. Research consistently shows that when women and girls have access to quality education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and legal protections, communities become more resilient, economies grow stronger, and governance becomes more inclusive. Conversely, failure to address gender inequalities perpetuates cycles of poverty, exclusion, and instability.

On this Human Rights Day, AfA calls for urgent action of the governments at all levels to strengthen the implementation of gender-responsive laws and policies, invest in accountability systems, and ensure access to justice for survivors of violence and discrimination. Institutions must safeguard human rights defenders, especially women activists, who face heightened risks for their work. Communities, including traditional and religious leaders, must actively challenge harmful norms and practices that undermine women’s rights, while promoting education and empowerment. The private sector must eliminate workplace discrimination, promote equal opportunities, and support women-led enterprises.

Alliances for Africa urges policymakers, civil society organisations, development partners, and citizens to reaffirm their commitments and translate them into concrete action. This means protecting women and girls from violence, expanding access to education and healthcare, supporting economic empowerment and leadership, and ensuring meaningful inclusion of women and girls in decision-making processes at all levels. Sustainable progress requires long-term investments in social protection systems, inclusive policymaking, and amplifying the voices and lived experiences of women and girls.

As the world marks Human Rights Day 2025, AfA calls on all stakeholders to renew their collective resolve. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights cannot be realised if women and girls continue to face discrimination, exclusion, and violence. Advancing women and girls’ rights is a moral, legal, and developmental imperative, not an option. Let this day inspire bold, intentional action that moves societies closer to justice, equality, and dignity for all.

A more just and equitable future is possible, but only if we act now. The rights of women and girls are non-negotiable, indivisible, and essential to progress.

#HumanRightsDay2025
#WomensRightsAreHumanRights
#EndGenderViolence
#EqualityForAll
#AlliancesForAfrica

Who We Are

Alliances for Africa (AfA) is a feminist-led human rights and development organisation dedicated to building a just, equitable, and sustainable African society anchored on feminist principles. AfA has been at the forefront of gender justice, governance reform, and women’s rights advocacy at local, national, and regional levels across West Africa. Through strategic research, policy advocacy, capacity development, and movement-building, we work to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) and dismantle systems that perpetuate gender inequality.

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