In Nigeria, where maternal mortality remains critically high at 993 deaths per 100,000 live births, improving outcomes is not only about expanding services. It is about strengthening how services are delivered, coordinated, and accessed by women and adolescents.
To address this, the SWAp Coordination Office, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), and Presidential Vulnerable Groups Advisory Council (PVAC), is implementing a coordinated Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) program across eight priority states: Akwa Ibom, Benue, Enugu, Ekiti, Kebbi, Ondo, Taraba, and Zamfara.
The program delivers a package of interventions across key pillars, including demand generation, facility infrastructure and commodities, service delivery and quality, and emergency referral systems, to strengthen access to life-saving care and improve maternal health outcomes.
In the first quarter of 2026, the program recorded two key milestones that lay the foundation for effective implementation: the revitalisation of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Technical Working Groups and the completion of baseline assessments in four states.
1. Strengthening coordination and accountability of SRH programs
The program assessed RMNCAH Technical Working Groups (TWGs) across all eight states to evaluate their functionality and effectiveness. RMNCAH coordination plays a critical role in guiding resource allocation, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring effective delivery of SRH services.
Findings from the assessments were presented to state government stakeholders, driving clearer prioritisation of RMNCAH activities and strengthening state ownership. As a result, all eight states have now established functional RMNCAH TWGs.
These platforms are being strengthened to function as active decision-making and accountability structures, supporting more coordinated planning, implementation, and oversight of SRH programmes across states.
2. Building a strong evidence base for action
To guide implementation across its intervention pillars, the program conducted baseline assessments in Benue, Ekiti, Enugu, and Ondo states, generating critical data on service delivery and community experience.
Across the four states, the program conducted:
- 121 health facility assessments
- 1,104 client exit surveys
- 1,058 community surveys
These assessments examined service availability, facility readiness, client experiences, and community awareness of SRH services.
Preliminary findings indicate strong availability of routine commodities across several LGAs, but persistent gaps in life-saving emergency commodities. These insights are informing targeted interventions to strengthen supply chains and improve access to critical services in affected states.
Looking Ahead
In the next phase, the program will move from groundwork to implementation. Efforts will focus on operationalising RMNCAH TWGs across all states to drive coordination, accountability, and oversight of SRH interventions.
At the same time, insights from the baseline assessments will be used to prioritise high-need areas and guide the rollout of targeted interventions across the program’s key pillars, particularly in strengthening commodity availability, service delivery, and emergency response systems.
By linking coordination structures with real-time data, the program is positioning states to deliver more responsive, evidence-driven SRH services and improve outcomes for women and adolescents.
