Representatives from all eight Sindh districts with local leadership celebrate graduation.
The Challenge Initiative (TCI) in Pakistan marked an important milestone with a graduation ceremony celebrating progress toward a self-reliant, sustainable family planning program in Sindh.
Held on October 23, the ceremony recognized the successful establishment of a self-sustaining health system to scale family planning across eight districts: Malir, Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi South, Karachi Central, Korangi, Keamari, and Hyderabad. Local governments selected these districts in 2022 to implement high-impact interventions. Guided by the Government of Sindh, they have now been recognized as graduated districts after three years of implementation.
TCI graduation is part of a continuous improvement process and a marker of sustainable success. The process begins with a pre-graduation phase, during which cities demonstrate measurable gains not only in the uptake of family planning methods, but also in the strength of their health systems.
Through its model, TCI supports local governments to self-select and lead the implementation of evidence-based family planning interventions, while TCI provides coaching and on-demand technical assistance. From the outset, cities are placed on a path toward self-reliance, ultimately “graduating” from direct TCI support.
Results from the eight districts highlight the scale of progress achieved. Additional family planning clients increased from 7,000 in June 2022 to 387,000 by the end of August 2025. During implementation, TCI focused on strengthening the capacity of public-sector health staff, training 12,727 individuals. Districts also organized 13,881 health facility camps, serving 689,407 family planning clients. In postpartum family planning, 2,628 providers were trained. To expand access for underserved communities, 13,225 camps were conducted in hard-to-reach areas, reaching 523,938 family planning clients. In addition, 78 health facilities were upgraded, improving client flow and service readiness in high-need communities.
The graduation ceremony was honored by the presence of notable figures, including Mr. Hafeezullah Abbasi, Secretary, Population Welfare Department (PWD) Sindh; Mr. Rehan Iqbal Baloch, Secretary, Health Department Sindh; Dr. Talib Lashari, Technical Advisor, CIP PWD; Dr. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, President, SZABIST; Dr. Farhana Memon, Program Director, RMNCH Sindh; Dr. Shahida Rehmani, Member of the National Assembly; District Health Officers; District Population Welfare Officers; Lady Health Supervisors and Workers; Dr. Syed Aziz ur Rab, CEO, Greenstar Social Marketing (GSM); Fawad Shamim, GM, GSM; Dr. Syed ud Huda; and Ghazunfer Abbas, Chief of Party, GSM, along with other team members, local government health representatives from the eight TCI-supported districts, academics, community activists, and influencers.
This milestone underscores what is possible through strong local leadership, capacity building, innovation, and collaboration in advancing Pakistan’s FP2030 commitments.
