By Palma Ileye
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has called for stronger institutional coordination, accountability and effective implementation of existing laws to protect vulnerable persons and improve access to justice and healthcare in Nigeria.
The organisation said the existence of legal frameworks was not enough to guarantee protection unless relevant institutions were adequately equipped and coordinated to translate such laws into practical benefits for citizens.
The UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, represented by Onyinye Ndubuisi, made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the National Technical and Institutional Validation Meeting on the Guidelines on the Gender, Justice, Human Rights and Health Effective Implementation of Selected Laws Applicable to Vulnerable Persons in Nigeria.
Ndubuisi said the meeting was an important step towards strengthening Nigeria’s institutional response to gender inequality, human rights violations, barriers to justice and health-related vulnerabilities.
According to the representative, women and girls, children, persons with disabilities, key and vulnerable populations, persons in detention and other marginalised groups continue to face institutional and systemic barriers in accessing justice, protection and essential services.
She noted that survivors of gender-based violence often require medical attention, psychosocial support, legal assistance and protection but sometimes encounter fragmented institutional responses.
“The challenge, therefore, is not only about the laws we have, but about how effectively our institutions work together to implement them,” the representative said.
The UNDP explained that the guidelines were designed to provide practical direction for translating existing legal and policy commitments into institutional procedures, coordinated responses and accessible, rights-based services.
It identified five critical areas the guidelines would strengthen, including gender-responsive justice delivery, human rights protection and access to justice, health and justice sector coordination, institutional accountability and the protection of vulnerable populations.
The organisation stressed the need to ensure that legal protections were not merely recognised on paper but were accessible, practical and enforceable in people’s everyday lives.
On efforts to strengthen institutional accountability, the UNDP representative disclosed that the organisation, in partnership with the Global Fund, the Federal and State Ministries of Justice, the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and other stakeholders, was supporting interventions to improve institutional capacity, human rights protection, gender equality and access to justice.
A major component of the intervention, the representative said, was the High-Level Observatory on Gender, Justice, Human Rights and Health, which was being extended across 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, covering 20 jurisdictions.
The Observatory, according to the representative, is designed to generate credible institutional evidence, identify implementation gaps, inform policy and strengthen oversight and accountability across relevant sectors.
The representative explained that while the guidelines would provide practical direction for implementing selected laws and safeguards, the Observatory would provide evidence to assess implementation, identify persistent gaps and recommend corrective actions.
