Building local capabilities for housing rights advocacy: lessons from grassroots-led civic media labs in Lagos

Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city, has a shortage of affordable housing that has resulted in the proliferation of informal settlements. Residents routinely face state-sanctioned rights violations, prompting counter-campaigns by grassroots movements and civil society groups. 

This paper analyses the contribution of a series of civic media labs – community-based sessions that provided training in media and communication skills – to building the capacity of grassroots groups to effectively advocate for their right to housing. 

The analysis highlights opportunities for leveraging capabilities developed during the labs for longer-term impact, as well as short-term strategies for supporting grassroots-led media advocacy in exclusionary political contexts.