New program aims to reach 688,000 annual modern contraceptive users across all 20 local government areas
The Challenge Initiative (TCI), led by the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, today launched Lagos RISE (Reproductive Health Impact for Scale and Equity), a three-year program to expand equitable access to modern family planning services across all 20 local government areas (LGAs) of Lagos State, Nigeria.
The program is made possible through a $7.2-million investment from the Gates Foundation. Lagos RISE builds on TCI’s existing family planning program in Lagos State, where the initiative has worked in 10 LGAs since 2021, and will scale proven interventions to the remaining 10 LGAs – reaching underserved, peri-urban, and riverine communities that have historically had limited access to public-sector health services.
An inception meeting is being held today in Lagos, bringing together representatives from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, local government health departments, implementing partners, and community stakeholders to align on program priorities, clarify roles and responsibilities, and co-design the implementation approach.
“Lagos RISE represents a significant step forward in our efforts to ensure that every woman in Lagos State – regardless of where she lives — has access to high-quality family planning services,” said Kojo Lokko, TCI’s Executive Director. “By working through and alongside government systems, we are building something that will last well beyond this investment.”
Lagos RISE represents a comprehensive, full-method investment in modern contraception, supporting the full range of methods available in the Lagos public health system – from short-acting options such as pills, injectables, condoms, and DMPA-SC, to long-acting reversible contraceptives including implants and IUDs, to permanent methods. The program’s approach reflects a commitment to client-centered counseling and informed choice, ensuring that all women and couples can access the method that best meets their needs.
Working across 367 public health facilities, Lagos RISE will strengthen service delivery, expand postpartum family planning, deploy community health workers and mobilizers to convert family planning intention into sustained modern contraceptive use, and support government systems to plan, finance, and sustain services independently over time. The program projects a net addition of approximately 300,000 new modern contraceptive users and 1.33 million couple-years of protection by 2029. Lagos RISE is projected to generate approximately 688,000 annual modern contraceptive users and 1.33 million couple-years of protection between now and September 2029.
Lagos RISE is designed for sustainability from the outset, embedding family planning targets and financing into government planning processes and progressively shifting program responsibilities to state and local government structures over the course of the grant.
About The Challenge Initiative
The Challenge Initiative is a global family planning and maternal, newborn, and child health platform operating across 15 countries. Housed within the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, TCI works with local governments and health systems to scale high-impact interventions that are owned, financed, and sustained by local institutions. Learn more at www.tciurbanhealth.org.
