Innovations in Public Financing for Family Planning at Subnational Levels: Sustainable Cofinancing Strategies for Family Planning With Nigerian States

Abstract

From 2018 to 2022, The Challenge Initiative (TCI) employed a cofinancing strategy in Nigeria to support states in their family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) budget allocations and expenditures.n Thirteen states accessed and used a total of 2.03 billion Nigerian naira (US$5.6 million) from the TCI Challenge Fund, a mechanism to incentivize domestic funding for FP programming.n State governments demonstrated substantial improvements in their fiscal commitment and releases with a 4-year average of 78.7% release of committed resources toward FP programs.

The Challenge Initiative: Lessons on Rapid Scale-Up of Family Planning and Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

“…Igharo et al 14 discuss the threat to development financing in Nigeria posed by declining donor funding, low government accountability, and weak governance. These problems were compounded for FP-related funding due to the limited understanding among policymakers of how investments contributed to the country’s broader health and development goals.…”

Improving State Government's Responsiveness to Family Planning Interventions in Nigeria Using an Innovative Reflection and Action Tool

“…Challenges in Nigeria include inadequate domestic funding for FP programs, limited human resource and monitoring and evaluation capacity, and weak health systems. [11][12][13][14][15] State governments in Nigeria have the autonomy to decide how to manage their health budget annually; prioritization of FP in those budgets varies between states depending on other competing priorities, government capacity, and program implementation. Suboptimal state FP program response is further compounded by weak government capacity to institutionalize and scale up proven FP interventions.…”