The Challenge Initiative

Scaling up successful family planning programs in Nigeria

In a nation where low use of family planning has long been a seemingly intractable problem and where rates of maternal and infant mortality are among the highest in the world, the CCP-led Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) successfully increased the number of women of childbearing age using modern contraception in six Nigerian cities.

These achievements have attracted interest from others who want to broaden the reach of NURHI’s approaches – including generating demand for family planning services and communication-infused methods to improve the performance of health care providers. Comprehensive efforts like these need new ways of being funded, however. The Challenge Initiative (TCI) is designed to work in several countries to bring together donors and governments that wish to launch similar family planning programming. TCI will provide technical and financial assistance in several countries to match contributions from local organizations and governments that are willing to invest in family planning.

TCI represents an exciting new approach to providing life-saving reproductive health and family planning information and services to individuals, families and communities. TCI will operate in East Africa, French-speaking areas in West Africa, India and Nigeria.

CCP will lead efforts in Nigeria, with the goal of encouraging at least 10 states in Nigeria to invest their own resources to replicate the NURHI model and increase the number of family planning users in urban areas.

Funding

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Bayer AG

Location

Nigeria

Duration

2016-2025

Implementing Partners

Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health (prime)

Category
Advocacy, Applied Research, Capacity Strengthening, Current, Family Planning, Knowledge Management, Nigeria, Public-private Partnerships, Social and Behavior Change