Final Evaluation: Strengthening Stakeholder Engagement in the Process of VAPP Enactment and Implementation (Nigeria) 

Location: Imo state, Nigeria  

Grantee: Alliances for Africa (AfA)  

Grant period: January 2020 - June 2023  

Grant amount: USD 357,497  

Authors/editors: Dr. Adaobi Nkeokelonye  

Publication year: 2023  

 Between January 2020 and June 2023, Alliances for Africa (AfA) implemented the project “Strengthening Stakeholder Engagement in the Process of VAPP Enactment and Implementation”, funded under the UN Trust Fund’s Spotlight Initiative, to ensure that women and girls living in Nigeria’s Imo state are better protected from sexual and gender-based violence. The project worked to: 

• facilitate enactment of the Violence against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act in Imo state by strengthening civil society organizations and other networks working on ending violence against women and girls (VAW/G); and
• change harmful perceptions and cultural practices that perpetuate VAW/G.   

The final evaluation found the project positively impacted levels of VAW/G in Imo state and that access to essential services for survivors had improved. 

Main findings of the evaluation:  

• AfA’s project improved collaboration between institutions responsible for preventing and responding to VAW/G by establishing the Imo State Committee on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls.  
• The project effectively facilitated engagement with the Imo state government and key stakeholders, creating and leveraging an enabling environment for the passing of the VAPP law in Imo state.  
• The project significantly shifted the perceived prevalence of different forms of VAW/G in Imo state, and levels of VAW/G in the targeted communities in Imo state fell.