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About Gender And Development Action |
| Gender and Development Action (GADA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to gender equality and pursuit of sustainable development and social justice in Nigeria. Our work promotes greater understanding and proactive responses to gender and development issues through research, information documentation and dissemination, training, consultation, dialogue, advocacy and mobilization. GADA was started in 1994 by Nkoyo Toyo, Barbara Riley (Canadian) and Eka Williams. The decision to establish GADA followed the unimpressive quality of participation and representation of Nigeria’s official delegation to Dakar regional meeting of the Fourth World Conference on Women. The overbearing style of the Nigerian delegation’s leadership provided little space for alternative perspectives. Efforts to re-establish a credible platform for civil society activism around gender issues became the impetus for setting up an organization committed not only to issues of social justice but working to promote alliances within civil society and with supportive state structures. From 1994 to date, GADA has been in the forefront of the struggle for gender-equity and equality in politics and development in Nigeria. Our commitment has been to poorest and most marginalized constituencies, of which women comprise a disproportionately high segment. Over the years, the organization has developed cutting – edge expertise working with a wide range of local and international partners to implement actions around women’s social, economic, cultural and political rights. GADA has become a catalyst for mobilizing women’s groups and their allies, linking their popular demands to policy making enclaves and negotiating for appropriate changes. |
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Organisational
Goals
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Our
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Targets
and Beneficiaries Alliance building is an ongoing process and an essential part of GADA’s mission to foster credible and committed partners that can expand its outreach and strengthen its networking capacities. GADA’s mandate, its history of national mobilization and cross-national sensitization has put in a unique position to access a pool of existing resources to enhance its impacts. |
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Structure GADA
has a seven-member Board of Trustees, three technical committees
of which the Chairpersons are board members and three operational
offices. The three technical committees are those of Management,
Programme and Research, while the offices are located in Lagos,
Calabar and Abuja. The Management Committee is headed by the Executive
Director who is also a member of the Board of Trustees. The Board
of Trustees meets twice yearly to review the performance of the
organization, address issues of funding, determine whether programmes
are consistent with the organization’s mission, and assess
the work of Committees.
Committees seek the endorsement of the Board to operate but this is secured through an annual strategic meeting where programmes are presented discussed and adopted. Other matters for decision-making go through Committees and each committee consists of five members (one board member, two experts, and two staff) to support its work. The Lagos office undertakes programmes development and quality management, publications and institutional development. The GADA Centre for Training and Development Activities (CeTDA) based in Calabar works on research, training and community interventions. The organization’s Policy Influencing and Advocacy functions are coordinated from the Abuja office. GADA is a non-membership organization and has a total of 21 full and part time employees and volunteers. Most of GADA’s work is done in association with other groups in civil society. |