Gada was Started in …

1994 by Nkoyo Toyo, Barbara Riley and Dr. Eka Williams. The decision to establish GADA followed the unimpressive quality of participation and representation of Nigeria’s official delegation to the Dakar regional meeting of the Fourth World Conference on Women. The Nigerian delegation was under the dominant influence of the First Lady who provided little space for alternative perspectives. Efforts to re-establish a credible platform for civil society activism around issues of women (and men) became the impetus for setting up an organization committed not only to the issue of social justice in Nigeria but working to promote alliances within civil society and with supportive state structures. 

By 1996, GADA was able to rally women (and men) at a first-ever National Political Summit for Women in Nigeria, to review their issues from the perspective of civil society actors and produce an alternative agenda and platform for action.