ExpandNet has been collaborating with the BMGF-funded Technical Support Unit (TSU) project led by Dr. Sada Danmusa who directs the Nigerian NGOs Development Outcomes and Support (DOS) Center and Mid-Space. The TSU project is strengthening the family planning (FP) capacity of state level government leaders to take ownership and more effectively manage the family planning program. The project has utilized various mechanisms to strengthen these leaders’ capacity to use data to set priorities, manage implementation and adapt innovations and best practices for continuous improvement of FP outcomes. One of those mechanisms, the Transparency, Advocacy and Capacity building (TRAC) platform normally supports periodic meetings to build the skills of state leaders from Nigeria’s geo-political zones to use data for decision making and disparity analysis in family planning performance. These efforts combined with other interventions at the federal and state level, have generated new commitments to improve family planning and reproductive health outcomes.
In the current phase the project has worked in two of the six zones of Nigeria. Over the next three years the plan is to scale up the TRAC platform to cover the remaining four geopolitical zones, and thereby all Nigerian states. However, the COVID-19 epidemic is bringing many new challenges as the team cope’s with sustaining activities and planning the next phase of scale up. The ExpandNet Secretariat team discussed with Dr Sada his plans and how he expects to deal with the crisis. To read Dr. Sada’s response to some key questions about how their work is adjusting effectively, click here.
