INVESTING IN FAMILY PLANNING
Investment in family planning is an important strategy to fast-track fertility transition in Nigeria. There is perhaps no country in the world that has recorded sustained fertility reductions without appropriate investments in family planning. Several countries in Latin America and Asia, including China and South Korea have successfully accelerated fertility decline and harnessed a demographic dividend through robust investments in family planning programmes, amongst other strategies.
However, Nigeria is in the second stage of the demographic transition, with declining mortality and stubbornly high fertility. The country has a huge sub-national variation in TFR, ranging from 3.4 in Lagos state to 7.3 in Katsina state. There is a window of opportunity for Nigeria to harness the demographic dividend, build one of the largest workforces in the world, reduce poverty, and transform into a global economic powerhouse if the country can achieve a sustained fertility decline. However, this will remain unattainable without a robust investment in family planning.
In the bid to tackle the challenges above, FCDO/UNFPA supported the government of Nigeria to develop a business case for family planning funding in Nigeria (2017-2021). However, the landscape has evolved since then:
- New government policies and frameworks (FP 2030, FP Blueprint, NDP, NPP, etc.)
- Macroeconomic conditions have affected the economic and financial landscape.
- Changes in health indicators (outputs and outcomes), covid-19 disruption.
CHECOD supported the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to develop an investment case and sustainability plan for Family Planning in Nigeria. The focus of the technical support by the CHECOD team is to;
- Develop a business case for family planning in Nigeria 2023-2030 in alignment with SDG targets and developments.
- Review the road map for family planning financing.
- Develop a Financial Sustainability Plan (FSP) for achieving the targets.
