Gender Mainstreaming in Petroleum Law and Policy: Filling the Regulatory Gap in Host Community Development in Nigeria

This study analytically examines the regulatory gap in gender mainstreaming within Nigeria's petroleum law and policy framework, with specific focus on Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) governance under the PIA 2021. Despite substantial evidence that women in oil-producing communities bear disproportionate social burdens from petroleum operations, neither the PIA 2021 nor the NUPRC's HCDT implementation guidelines contain mandatory gender equity provisions. Using an empirical gender legal analysis methodology, the research combines legislative gap analysis with qualitative data from forty interviews with women from host communities in Rivers, Delta, and Ondo States. Trust incorporation documents, corporate social responsibility reports, and HCDT board compositions are analysed to measure gender representation outcomes. Findings reveal that women constitute less than 12 percent of HCDT board membership across all surveyed trusts, and that community development project prioritisation systematically underserves female-dominated sectors such as healthcare, water supply, and market infrastructure. The study develops a gender mainstreaming regulatory framework for petroleum community governance and recommends its adoption by the NUPRC as a supplementary guideline. Keywords: gender mainstreaming, petroleum law, HCDT, PIA 2021, host communities.