The Lux Terra Leadership Foundation on Friday October 3, 2025, commissioned 15 Christian Congregations from across the country as Centres of Excellence for the Prevention and Elimination of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). The event, is part of the activities lined up to commemorate 65 years of the establishment of Ford Foundation’s West African Office (in Lagos, Nigeria).

Over the last three years, Lux Terra has (in partnership with Ford Foundation) engaged in training hundreds of Christian stakeholders — including priests, pastors, lay men, women as well as youth leaders from across the country equipping them with the knowledge and tools to combat SGBV within their congregations and in the communities and institutions around them.

The commissioning event is the culmination of a series of experiential training encounters with stakeholders from each one of the selected Churches. 

The Centres of Excellence will serve as notable examples of effective safeguarding protocols, vibrant justice advocacy for vulnerable women and girls, as well as the promotion of the equal dignity of all, thus ensuring that the Christian faith is indeed put into action, when it comes to the protection and defence of the dignity and rights of weak and vulnerable women and girls. They are committed to zero tolerance for all forms of Sexual and Gender Based Violence, and creating required structures and policy frameworks, including reward and sanction regimes, that will sustain such commitment in their communities.

Among the 15 Christian Churches commissioned are: St Thomas Anglican Church, Uke Nasarawa State; Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Ijebu Imushin, Ogun State; Gloryland Baptist Church, Abuja; Glory Bible Church, Abuja; Palace of Priests Assembly, Abuja; Reigning Christ Chapel, Sagamu, Ogun State; Hope Awake Outreach Ministry, Badagry, Lagos State; Living Faith Church, Morris, Minna, Nigeria State; Chapel of Light, St Francis of Asisi College, Wusasa Zaria, Kaduna State; and Zion Kindred Bible Church, Askira/Uba, Borno State.