GS26 Summit: Stakeholders Demand Action to Reach Last-Mile Nigerians
- Stakeholders at the fifth Gender and Inclusion Summit (GS26) in Abuja pushed for concrete steps to bridge the gap between policy and real impact
- Patrick Achi, President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire, delivered the keynote address, reframing inclusion as central to development
- The summit saw the pre-launch of the Gender Legislative Agenda for Africa and the unveiling of Nigeria's first nationally representative gender norms survey
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Stakeholders gathered at the fifth Gender and Inclusion Summit (GS26) in Abuja on September 8 and 9, 2026, demanding that governments and development partners move beyond policy declarations to deliver real results for Nigerians at the grassroots level.
The two-day summit was organised by the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) under the theme "From Agenda to Action: Making Innovations Count for the Last Mile."
Source: Original
It brought together senior government officials, policymakers, development partners, private-sector leaders and civil society representatives.
Keynote address sets the tone
Patrick Achi, President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire and former Prime Minister of the country, delivered the keynote address, arguing that inclusion cannot be treated as secondary to development.
"Inclusion is not a social supplement to development. Inclusion is development," he said. He described the last mile as the point where women entrepreneurs connect to capital, farmers enter modern value chains and citizens engage with government. "The last mile is not where development ends. It is where development becomes real," Achi added.
PIC Executive Director Dr Osasuyi Dirisu challenged participants to honestly assess whether innovations are reaching the communities they are built for.
"Do our solutions travel as far as the infrastructure goes, or do they stop?" she asked, pointing to policy, partnership, financing, coordination and community ownership as the factors that determine whether change reaches local government, ward and community levels.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) posed a similar question, asking whether years of commitments have actually reached the people who need them most.
Launches and new research
The summit included the pre-launch of the Gender Legislative Agenda for Africa, the launch of the Nigerian Youth Dream Charter, and the unveiling of the SWOLE (Strengthening Women's Leadership in Academic Economics) Policy Transformation Toolkit.
A major highlight was the release of findings from the Nigerian Survey on Gender Norms, Attitudes, Health and Wellbeing, described as Nigeria's first nationally representative data on the social and gender norms affecting adolescents' health.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, who chaired a national dialogue tied to the findings, called on stakeholders to use the data as a foundation for a more equitable health system.
"Let this dialogue be more than a conversation. Let it be a catalyst for change," he said.
PIC Board Chairman Udeme Ufot said the organisation would document the summit's outcomes in a publication called the Purple Book to support continued policy engagement and accountability.
"Our task is not only to develop good ideas and make commitments, but to ensure that they are implemented, scaled and experienced in people's everyday lives," he said.
The summit closed with a renewed push for governments, institutions and private actors to ensure that policies and investments translate into visible improvements for communities furthest from the centre of power.
Source: Legit.ng
