Demand-Driven Model
The Challenge Initiative is built around the premise that putting cities in the driver’s seat of a project is essential in ensuring that project succeeds and that its impact lasts beyond the life of the project as it develops into a full-fledged program. This approach requires cities to take the lead to improve the health and wellbeing of their population, supported by the Initiative and its regional accelerator hubs with funding, tools, and assistance. In order to participate in the Initiative, cities step forward and demonstrate their willingness, readiness and ability to address their reproductive health challenges through the following three-stage process:
Stage 1
Submit an Expression of Interest
A city should contact the Initiative to signify its intent to join. An accelerator hub will work with the city to document and validate the city’s interest. The city will be asked to provide the following in the expression of interest form:
- Evidence of political commitment
- A description of health system capacity
- An account of demographic need
- A pledge of local resources (funding or in-kind) to contribute to a TCI project
Stage 2
Design a Program
A city that qualifies from Stage 1 will gain access to TCI University and its outstanding package of practical learning tools on proven and high-impact interventions and approaches. The city will receive technical support from the accelerator hub to identify gaps and design a program that fills the most critical ones. The city will be asked to outline funding needs in its program design and confirm the local resources they can contribute towards the proposed program.
Stage 3
Implement a Program
A city with a promising program design that meets the criteria for soundness and cost-effectiveness will receive financial assistance from the Initiative’s Challenge Fund. This subsidy to implement the approved program will go hand-in-hand with technical coaching and mentoring from the accelerator hub. The city will also join the Initiative’s global community of practice, where model cities learn from each other and share proven best practices in delivering quality family planning and health services to their citizens. In select cities, the Initiative will set up a monitoring tool to track progress and provide immediate feedback on what is working well and what needs adjustment.
The Initiative believes this demand-driven model will incentivize cities to have a high level of commitment and responsibility for serving the reproductive health needs of their citizens. The model’s three stages are intended to prime local ownership at the outset and nurture a leading role for cities in program design and implementation. These stages also provide visibility on the appetite for change that exists in many vibrant urban communities.
The Initiative will strive to marshal the needed resources to sufficiently respond to the demand for technical and financial support that this process will require, while at the same time ensuring that this support flows to cities with projects that have the best likelihood of success.
