Partnership with faith-based organizations in Nigeria helped improve family planning (FP) acceptance and stronger health systems. Management Sciences for Health (MSH) collaborated with the Christian Health Association of Nigeria (CHAN) to train religious leaders and community health workers to promote FP. This multi-pronged strategy used advocacy, behavior change communication, and capacity building to empower religious leaders to address cultural resistance and misconceptions about FP. As a result, communities with engaged religious leaders showed better understanding and increasing acceptance of reproductive health and FP.

1. Partnership with faith based organizations:
FP acceptance in Nigeria
Stronger health systems. Greater health impact.
Dr. Zipporah Kpamor, Chief of Party – Nigeria (MSH)
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2. Background
MSH supports the implementation of voluntary FP
 Goal: improve poor health delivery system
 Challenges:
-religious and cultural resistance
-high illiteracy rates
-poor knowledge of reproductive health issues
-distrust of foreign influence
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3. Situation
FP indicators
• High TFR = 5.7
1/13 women dying in childbirth
• Low CPR = 9.7%
High maternal mortality rates:
545/100,000 live births
infant mortality rates:
75/1,000 live births
Slow FP uptake due to
• Short birth spacing
• Perceived religious prohibition
against FP use
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4. Religious Community
• Christianity and Islam major religions practiced in the
country
• Religious leaders influence traditional practices at
family households
• Husbands- the decision makers of the family, value large
families and cultural beliefs reject the use of high impact and
lifesaving contraceptives
• Both Christians and Muslims support use of FP but
misconceptions, including the interpretation of FP as
abortion and birth control
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5. MSH Intervention in Nigeria
(2007-2011)
Nigeria Indigenous Capacity Building (NICaB) project
 Collaboration with Christian
Health Association of Nigeria
(CHAN) – objective of “Reaching
the Unreached”
- comprised of 4,400 hospitals,
clinics, health programs and
leprosaria centers, mostly located in
rural areas
 HIV/AIDS Treatment Care and
Support project
– MSH facilitated acceptance to FP
commodities for women in six
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6. MSH & CHAN partnership
3 methods of intervention:
–community level
– through religious leaders and community/village
health workers for prevention including PMTCT
and FP
–care and support services
–primary health center level
–for the provision of HIV treatment and basic
health services
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7. MSH & CHAN partnership
•
Multi-prong strategy:
–
–
–
–
•
evidence-based local
advocacy
behavior change
communication
capacity building
referral for commodity
supply
Use of language such as
healthy timing and spacing
pregnancy instead of FP
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8. Community Level Intervention
• Engage religious leaders to break barriers to FP
• Trainers of Trainers (Imams, priests, nuns, and catechists)
who trained service providers and volunteers from among
women fellowship groups and the market women
associations.
• To incorporate advocacy for FP with the religious messages
and mainstream FP discussion into other sectors of the
project: HIV/AIDS, education, agriculture, water and
sanitation
• Use of religious leaders in community mobilization
• through organized community meetings, in mosques and
churches.
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9. Health Facility Level
• Integrated FP discussions
into other clinic activities
 counseling for HIV Testing
and Counseling,
 antenatal and post natal
clinics
• Trained clinic service
providers to provide quality
FP services depending on
their faith
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10. Results
• Religious leaders helped remove barriers to FP
• Sermons addressed: girl-child education,
immunization, family planning, and antenatal care
• Community members where religious leaders were
engaged showed better understanding and an
increasing acceptance of RH/FP
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11. Conclusion: Partnership with Faith based
Organizations …
• Empowers religious leaders and the faith communities
 to effectively tackle resistance to uptake of services
 to improve communication with the use of appropriate
language to sensitize potential FP users
• Increases FP acceptance
 with Intersectoral collaboration and the integration of FP
messages into other development initiatives such as
PMTCT
 through multiple levels of influence: including individual,
community and institutional factors are likely to improve
acceptance of FP in faith communities.
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