Nigeria Stakeholder Analysis Project Report
Executive Summary
Introduction
In Nigeria, women are underrepresented in senior leadership roles despite dominating the health work-force.1 Men occupy most decision-making positions in a system that has kept women on the sidelines of lead-ership for decades. This gender disparity in leadership is not limited to the health sector. Women are also un-derrepresented in political leadership and other areas. The barriers to women’s leadership in Nigeria’s public health organizations abound and arise from individual, societal, cultural, religious, and organizational factors. Gender disparity in health sector leadership impacts health outcomes. Therefore, stakeholders must iden-tify critical barriers to gender parity in leadership and explore opportunities to increase the proportion of women in senior leadership roles in the health sector.
WomenLift Health Nigeria
Stakeholder Analysis
Since its inception, WomenLift Health has spearhead-ed efforts to reduce gender disparity in health sector leadership in different countries and regions through advocacy, stakeholder engagement, capacity development and the implementation of contextually appropriate interventions. With the recent expansion of its programs beyond the USA to India and East Africa, WomenLift Health commissioned Nextier to conduct a stakeholder analysis of Nigeria’s health sector. The project’s main objectives were to identify key health sector stakeholders and organizations, determine barriers to gender parity in health sector leadership, and explore opportunities for WomenLift Health to design tailored interventions for Nigeria. These objectives aim to in-crease the collaborative implementation of programs to reduce the gender disparity in health sector leadership.
Methodology
The Nextier project team identified key stakeholders and organizations, reviewed existing grey and peer-re-viewed literature, conducted fifty-six (56) interviews, and hosted a focus group discussion with 12 partici-pants. The team purposively sampled interview and focus group discussion participants across seven sec-tors: government, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), local non-governmental organ-izations (LNGOs), multilateral organizations, philan-thropies, private sector organizations and academia. The interview and focus group discussion recordings were transcribed and thematically analyzed. The pro-ject team triangulated data from the different engage-ment methods to provide answers to the key research questions.
Methodology
The Nextier project team identified key stakeholders and organizations, reviewed existing grey and peerre-viewed literature, conducted fifty-six (56) interviews, and hosted a focus group discussion with 12 participants. The team purposively sampled interview and focus group discussion participants across seven sectors: government, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), local non-governmental organ-izations (LNGOs), multilateral organizations, philanthropies, private sector organizations and academia. The interview and focus group discussion recordings were transcribed and thematically analyzed. The project team triangulated data from the different engagement methods to provide answers to the key research questions.
Barriers to Women’s Leadership
The stakeholder analysis identified several barriers to women’s leadership in Nigeria’s health sector. These barriers include limited opportunities for girl-child education and advancement, societal norms and gender stereotypes, inadequate enabling resources, poor implementation of enabling policies, and considerations of family obligations or responsibilities. Other barriers identified include male dominance of health sector systems, unfavorable workplace practices, gender bias, limited mentorship or professional support, female workplace rivalry and personal barriers linked to women’s backgrounds, upbringing, and personalities.
Opportunities to Advance Women’s Leadership
Several opportunities (policies and programs) exist to advance women’s leadership in Nigeria’s health sector. These opportunities include the availability of senior level women leaders interested in mentoring others, ongoing advocacy by women’s professional groups, notable male champions of women’s leadership, gender-centered policies, and continuous efforts of multiple stakeholders to address societal stereotypes and harmful gender norms. Another indicator of a positive milieu is women’s enthusiasm to collaborate with WomenLift Health to advance gender parity. Furthermore, several organizations have women’s mentorship programs and flexible work arrangements to ensure work-life balance. Some of these organizations also provide workplace amenities that support wom-en’s aspiration for senior leadership roles in Nigeria’s public health organizations.
Opportunities to Advance Women’s Leadership
Several opportunities (policies and programs) exist to advance women’s leadership in Nigeria’s health sector. These opportunities include the availability of senior-level women leaders interested in mentoring others, ongoing advocacy by women’s professional groups, notable male champions of women’s leadership, gender-centered policies, and continuous efforts of multiple stakeholders to address societal stereotypes and harmful gender norms. Another indicator of a positive milieu is women’s enthusiasm to collaborate with WomenLift Health to advance gender parity. Furthermore, several organizations have women’s mentorship programs and flexible work arrangements to ensure work-life balance. Some of these organizations also provide workplace amenities that support women’s aspiration for senior leadership roles in Nigeria’s public health organizations.
Recommendations for WomenLift Health Programming in Nigeria
The study participants made several recommendations for WomenLift Health programming in Nigeria. These recommendations and possible collaboration points include broad stakeholder engagement to improve policies, design diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) evaluation metrics, and address negative stereotypes and norms. Other suggestions are that WomenLift Health leverages existing professional groups to advance advocacy efforts, design and implement a leadership training program, and organize periodic engagements for women, including a conference with fellowship and mentorship opportunities. The engagement should feature prominent health sector personalities who are leading ‘champions of women’s leadership’ as an advocacy initiative. Furthermore, there is a need for a program that targets high school and female university students for early development of their leadership qualities. The program should also advocate for girl-child education. Given the relative lack of data on women’s leadership in the health sector, further research is necessary to help advocacy efforts and to track progress.
