The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) is leading a national research effort to deepen understanding of how gender norms shape adolescent health and wellbeing outcomes in Nigeria through the Nigeria Survey on Gender Norms, Attitudes, Health, and Wellbeing.
Speaking during the National Dialogue on Transforming Gender Norms for Adolescent Health and Wellbeing organised by PIC, Honourable Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, stressed the central role of adolescents in Nigeria’s future and the importance of evidence-driven action. He noted that adolescents represent the heartbeat of the nation’s future yet face disproportionate risks such as child marriage, gender-based violence, limited access to sexual and reproductive health services, and barriers to preventive care.
Honourable Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, speaking at the National Dialogue on Transforming Gender Norms for Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, organised by PIC.
The Policy Innovation Centre’s survey is the first comprehensive national study to examine how social influences shape outcomes related to child, early and forced marriage (CEFM); gender-based violence (GBV); sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services; human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination; and women’s economic empowerment (WEE) among very young adolescents and their reference groups across selected Nigerian states.
Norms, or social influences, which are the informal rules that define what is acceptable and expected within communities, continue to shape adolescent experiences, often reinforcing inequality and limiting access to opportunities. Evidence shows that sustainable empowerment can only happen if these social influences are addressed. The survey therefore places social influences at the centre of discussions about adolescent health and development.
Providing further context for this focus, Mr Isaac Oritogun, Senior Research Advisor at the Policy Innovation Centre, stressed the urgency of intervening early. He explained that harmful norms remain deeply embedded in the fabric of society and that early adolescence offers a unique window to prevent these influences from becoming entrenched. While progress has been made through policies and service delivery, cultural expectations and gatekeeping behaviours continue to limit adolescent access to opportunities. He added that sustainable change requires deliberate investment in normative change alongside technical interventions.
Young Adolescent in Nigeria. (Photo: Policy Innovation Centre)
The survey examines both normative drivers, including stigma, silence around sexuality, parental control, and restrictive gender roles, as well as non-normative drivers such as poverty, weak service delivery systems, inadequate data, and limited availability of adolescent-friendly health services. Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) is analysing how these factors intersect to generate actionable evidence to inform more effective and gender-transformative policies and programmes.
About the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC)
The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) is the first national institutionalised behavioural initiative in Africa supporting government and stakeholders to make behaviourally informed decisions and generate evidence for impact-driven interventions across critical thematic areas. PIC is an initiative of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), a leading African think tank advancing evidence-based policy advocacy.
Signed
Hanifa BabaSadiq,
Communications Advisor,
Policy Innovation Centre
