Seventeen-year-old Rahila (not her real name) remembers the day she first tried to ask about HIV at a health centre in Kaduna State.
“I remember sitting outside the health centre, and the nurse told me girls my age shouldn’t be asking questions about HIV or sexual health. I walked home that day in tears. I felt dirty for even wanting to know.”
That moment could have silenced her, but instead, it ignited something. When the Open Heart Community-Based Initiative for Health Empowerment and Sustainable Development, a grantee of the Gender Equality Fund (GEF), began working in her community, Rahila found a safe space where she could learn, speak, and be heard without judgment.
“They asked us what we wanted for our health. I didn’t even know I was allowed to want anything.”
Empowered by GEF-supported training and mentorship, Rahila began organising discussions with other girls, advocating for adolescent-friendly health services, and challenging harmful gender norms. Today, she works with local health providers to ensure that primary health centres in her community treat adolescent girls with dignity and respect.
Rahila’s story is one of many that embody the spirit of International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW) — a global movement that celebrates and amplifies the voices, rights, and agency of young people. It reminds us that when adolescents, especially girls, are equipped with knowledge and power, they can shape the future of health and equality in their communities.
Adolescent Health and Gender Inequality in Nigeria
Across the world, adolescent girls continue to resist injustice in both visible and quiet ways, yet their stories often go untold. In Nigeria, teenage girls and young women (AGYW) face a disproportionate burden of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria; a reality rooted in deep-seated gender inequalities, harmful social norms, and weak policy enforcement.
According to the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Nigeria has the highest number of people living with HIV in West and Central Africa, estimated at 1.9 million people, and infection rates are four times higher among adolescent girls and young women than among their male peers 1. The country also faces one of the world’s most significant tuberculosis diagnosis gaps, compounded by a 20% HIV co-infection rate 2. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation reported Nigeria accounts for 27% of global malaria cases and 31% of malaria deaths, with children and adolescents most affected 3.
Despite this staggering burden, adolescent girls remain largely excluded from the decisions that shape their health. In many communities, entrenched beliefs portray girls as less capable of contributing to important discussions, silencing their voices at home, in schools, and in policy spaces. Their experiences are often overlooked, their power undervalued, and their potential to lead change is too frequently ignored.
How the Gender Equality Fund Is Transforming the Narrative
The Gender Equality Fund (GEF) was established to change this reality, to move girls from the margins to the centre of decision-making. With the support of the Global Fund, GSK, and ViiV Healthcare, and by providing flexible funding and technical support, the GEF empowers adolescent girls to become leaders, knowledge holders, and changemakers, capable of driving transformation in their communities.
In Kaduna, Benue, Lagos, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers States, the GEF works with AGYW-led and community-based organisations to design and deliver gender-transformative health interventions focused on HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, fostering leadership, agency, and advocacy skills, equipping girls to challenge discrimination and influence policies that directly impact their health and rights.
[Group photo of participants at the GEF introductory meeting in Rivers State, Nigeria, July 2025]
Empowering Girls to Know and Claim Their Rights
In Rivers State, 19-year-old Favour (not her real name) once knew very little about her sexual and reproductive health rights.
“I was afraid to ask questions,” she says. “People would judge you for even trying to know.”
That changed when she joined activities led by the Greater Women Initiative for Health and Rights (GWIHR), another GEF-supported organisation. Through GWIHR, Favour was introduced to the MaPeers&Me App, which offers adolescent girls and young women safe, stigma-free access to health information, medical advice, and legal support.
With mentorship from GWIHR, Favour went a step further, becoming a member of the Rivers State HIV Technical Working Group convened by the State Agency for the Control of AIDS. There, she helped review the Rivers State HIV Anti-Discrimination Law and successfully advocated for adolescent girls under 18 to access HIV services without parental consent; a critical step toward health equity.
“As a result of these experiences, I’ve become more confident and informed. Now I volunteer to educate other girls in my community about their rights and how to access services safely.”
From Kaduna to Rivers, adolescent girls in Nigeria are rewriting the narrative, demanding accountability, leading advocacy, and transforming their communities. Their courage, resilience, and leadership are living proof that when girls are given the resources and respect they deserve, they can dismantle systems of inequality and build healthier, more just societies.
International Adolescent Health Week serves as a global reminder that meaningful progress in health and gender equality begins when adolescent girls are seen, heard, and supported. Through the Gender Equality Fund, Y+ Global and its partners are advancing this mission by amplifying the leadership of young women and ensuring their voices shape the future of health policy and practice. Because when adolescent girls thrive, so does everyone.
1 Be in the KNOW, https://www.beintheknow.org/understanding-hiv-epidemic/data/glance-hiv-nigeria
2 The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), https://ntblcp.org.ng/resources/tuberculosis-epidemiological-review-in-nigeria/
3 WHO (2023), https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2023