Scaling, New Lafiya Sisters, and a BBC Interview

Dear friends of Lafiya Nigeria,

It has been a busy few months here at Lafiya Nigeria. Our team travelled to 5 states and the Federal Capital of Abuja to launch the Lafiya Nigeria programme of 2023. Without further ado, let's jump into some of the most exciting things from the past few months.

1) Training and scale-up of our programme

As you know, we piloted our operations in Jigawa State in the north in early 2022. Our first year programme has already impacted more than 5000 women.

This February, under the supervision of State Ministries of Health, we conducted further scale-up of our Sayana Press distribution programme. We are proud to announce that we now work with 42 Lafiya Sisters across more than 30 local government areas, covering more than half of both Kebbi and Jigawa States. 

2) Strengthening our relationship with government stakeholders

Of course, we think constantly about how to deepen our collaboration with government stakeholders, having an ex-Federal Ministry director on our board. We had the privilege of meeting with Ministries of Health at both states, and with the Federal Ministry of Health. During our meetings, we stressed our commitment to remain dedicated to evidence-driven interventions, and in data transparency with the government. With the public sector support, we expect to continue our programme roll-out with the coordination of key partners to support us. Here are some photos from our visit. 

3) Our BBC Interview

This has been the most exciting yet. Through a guest editor (shoutout to Ire!), we have been featured on the BBC World Service Focus on Africa radio programme this January. We invited one of our Lafiya Sister, Fatima Mansur, to share her perspective in creating scalable change from the grassroots level. We encourage you to give the interview a listen to understand more about a day in the life of being a Lafiya Sister,

4) Our new Program Officer

After screening more than 500 candidates, we are glad to announce that in February, we have on-boarded our first programme officer, Maryam Ibrahim. With more than 8 years of experience working on gender-related programmes, Maryam leads the coordination of our Lafiya Sisters across two states, and is a key advocate for the Lafiya programme in front of the government. You can check out her profile more here on our website.

As we laid out in the beginning of January, this is just the start for Lafiya Nigeria in its quest to revolutionise the access to family planning in Nigeria. We are ready for a busy and impactful year ahead and we are so thankful to have you on this journey with us. 

Best wishes,

Klau, Dr Fatima, Jefferson, and Nasiru