UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women is launching the Nigeria chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance – a global coalition committed to ending harmful stereotypes in media and advertising.
The Unstereotype Alliance is a thought and action platform that unites the influence of the advertising, media, and marketing community as a force for transformative change.
Guinness Nigeria leads the charge championing the process towards the launch of the chapter, whose core membership features leading industry players First Bank of Nigeria, SO&U LTD, Unilever Nigeria and X3M Ideas.
Bringing a wealth of influence and reach, the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR) also join the Nigeria chapter as allies. The priority focus of the Nigeria Chapter is to use advertising as a force for progress by depicting positive portrayals of women and girls, and ensuring the industry rejects all harmful stereotypes, including gender stereotypes.
Destructive stereotypes proliferate advertising and media content in Nigeria and hinder progress towards gender equality.
“Nigeria has an important role to play in shifting negative stereotypes across the board – from women’s equal and meaningful participation in leadership to the role of boys and men in ending gender inequality. The Nigeria Chapter brings to the global coalition, a range of leading brands that recognise the importance of shifting attitudes around gender, disability, and ethnicity to not only drive the industry market but to achieve sustainable development. This Chapter is not only significant for Nigeria but for the whole continent given Nigeria’s position and influence in Africa,” Comfort Lamptey, UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS said.
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Nearly 1 in 3 Nigerian women reports having experienced physical violence at least once in their lifetime and representation of women in governance is amongst the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings from UN Women’s Gender Equality Attitudes study in Nigeria revealed that 54 percent of respondents believe media in Nigeria (television, advertisements, or public communication) only portrays women and men in certain roles and almost 40percent of people believe that for the same job men should be paid more than women.
The Nigeria Chapter recognises tackling stereotypes as a social imperative with a strong business case. In 2020, an estimated 430 million USD was spent by Nigeria’s advertising industry. The core membership seeks to further tap into Nigeria’s wide and diverse market to ensure positive and transformative representation.
According to Adenike Adebola, Marketing & Innovations Director, Guinness Nigeria, inequality and Stereotypes are influenced by our traditional beliefs in Nigeria.
“Success for the Nigeria National Chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance should begin from decanting those regressive beliefs that hold women back, with progressive female representations, conversations, communications and actions to bring an end to all existing issues fueling the gender gap; like Girl Child Labour, female genital mutilation, child bride system, domestic violence and many more,” she said.
Leveraging the reach of the United Nations’ 193 Member States, the Unstereotype Alliance provides a global connectedness for members with a shared commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 for gender equality. Nigeria is the 11th National Chapter and the 3rd in Africa, in addition to Australia, Brazil, Japan, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, and the UK.
“We are at a critical inflection point for women and the nation. The role of the advertising industry as critical stakeholders in fostering a positive narrative of diversity and inclusion cannot be overemphasized to achieve our goals for gender equality and women empowerment. The mission of the Unstereotype Alliance to work actively to shape the positive perception of women; women in leadership and women aspiring for political office could not be more timely,” Amina Oyagbola, Founder/Chairperson, Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR) said.
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