The Policy Innovation Centre’s Executive Director, Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu, says the 2026 Gender and Inclusion Summit (GS26) will shift Nigeria’s inclusion conversation from agenda-setting to action, accountability and last-mile impact, taking solutions from concept to scale.
Unveiling the summit’s vision in Abuja, Dirisu said the fifth edition will focus on ensuring that innovations, policies and commitments translate into measurable improvements for people furthest behind.
“This year’s summit will focus on strengthening the pathways that carry solutions from concept to scale. Prioritising inclusive design, looking at evidence and ensuring that innovators are held accountable for co-creating practical roadmaps that address structural barriers and expand access to services that are essential for women, young people, persons with disabilities, including those in underserved communities. At its core, GS26 is a call to ensure that innovation delivers real value where it matters most – at the last mile. GS26 is designed for depth and action.”
Dirisu said the summit’s last-mile focus responds to the reality that many innovations are developed without sufficiently understanding the circumstances of their intended beneficiaries.
Citing the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index, she said 63 per cent of Nigerians living in hard-to-reach and rural communities are multidimensionally poor.
“This work brings the last-mile conversation into development, focusing on the gap between innovative solutions and the people who need them most.”
She said the challenge extends beyond geography to the barriers that determine access to education, healthcare, livelihoods, technology and basic services.
In his remarks, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Dr. Tayo Aduloju, described the last mile as the point where exclusion becomes most visible, particularly for women and children.
“The last mile is usually the nexus of exclusion; the last mile is the nexus of the disconnected. The last mile is usually the nexus of the forgotten. The last mile is usually the nexus of the unseen.”
Aduloju said Nigeria’s scale of need demands solutions capable of reaching millions.
“It’s not just solutions. It’s solutions at scale. Because our problem, ladies and gentlemen, is already at scale.”
He called on innovators, investors, philanthropic organisations, private-sector leaders and government to participate in GS26.
“This is not an NGO meeting. This is not a civil society meeting. This is a national leadership meeting of innovators, of private sector leaders, of business leaders, of serial entrepreneurs, of investors, of philanthropic funds… of government policymakers.”
Representing the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hadiza Zubairu Gamawa highlighted the Renewed Hope Social Impact Intervention 774 as an initiative to get to the last mile.
She said the programme covers energy access, agriculture and food security, digital inclusion, health and wellbeing, financial inclusion, women’s innovation, leadership, education, child advancement and family support.
Gamawa disclosed that the ministry has developed “33 policies, standard operating procedures, implementation frameworks, national guidelines and codes of conduct” covering children, women and gender, families, vulnerable groups and social protection.
She added that the National Gender Policy is under review, with a new framework expected to guide the 2027–2032 period.
Technical Committee Chairperson Dr Amina Dorayi, said the summit’s impact must extend beyond the event itself.
She identified Purple Book as a key product that will translate discussions, lessons and commitments into recommendations capable of driving implementation.
GS26 is scheduled to hold in September 2026 in Abuja and will combine high-level dialogue with technical working sessions, co-creation laboratories and partnership engagements.
The test, organisers say, is whether policies and innovations can cross the distance between idea and impact and reach the people who need them
