IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6 October 2026
Abuja, Nigeria

Centre LSD to Support Women’s Rights Organisations in Accountable Male Allyship and Feminist Leadership

The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), through its Male Feminists Network (MFN) Project, supported by the Ford Foundation, will hold a two-day capacity-building training for Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) on 8–9 October 2026 in Abuja.

The training, themed “From Principles to Practice: Institutionalising Accountable Male Allyship in Women’s Rights Programming,” builds on the January 2026 session on engaging male allies. It is designed to support participating organisations to translate feminist principles into practical systems for selecting, preparing, supervising, and holding male allies accountable within women’s rights programming.

According to Victoria Oseyande Udoh, Project Lead and Director of Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning at Centre LSD, the training will focus on ensuring that engagement with male allies strengthens women’s leadership, voice, and decision-making.

Participants will examine institutional readiness, safeguards, ethical programme design and practical tools for developing codes of conduct, reporting mechanisms, risk management systems and survivor-centred approaches.

The training will also explore how collaboration with male allies can contribute to gender-based violence prevention and how organisations can track changes in behaviour, institutional practices, and community norms.

Beyond Male Allyship

Victoria added that the training will go beyond male allyship to examine feminist leadership, effective social movements, Nigerian women’s resistance and organising, constituency building, campaign strategy, advocacy and policy influence.

Participants will also explore lessons from African experiences with gender quotas and consider their relevance to the Nigerian context.

The training will conclude with a review of lessons from the previous session and the development of action plans to guide implementation within participating organisations.

Strengthening Feminist Leadership and Gender Equality

The training forms part of Centre LSD’s broader commitment to strengthening feminist leadership, advancing gender equality, and supporting meaningful participation in decision-making.

Through the MFN Project, Centre LSD continues to promote constructive engagement with men and boys while ensuring that efforts to advance gender equality remain accountable to women’s rights and feminist principles.

Follow Centre LSD

Centre LSD encourages the public to follow updates from the training through its social media platforms:

• Facebook: @centre LSD
• LinkedIn: @centrelsd
• X: @centrelsd
• Instagram: @centrelsd

Signed:

Tracy Irhezaen
Communication Coordinator
African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD)