The Challenge Initiative - TCI

10/19/2026

TCI’s maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) toolkit is a finalist for a 2026 Anthem Award! 🎉

Alongside the judged awards, there’s a Community Voice Award decided by public vote.

If our work has inspired or supported you, your team, or your city, we’d be grateful for your vote by October 29. Click on the link below and vote for “Healthy Families, Healthy Communities” (listed under Johns Hopkins University) in the Health – Content & Media (Non Profit) category.

Thank you!

https://celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting #/2026/health/content-media/non-profit

The Anthem Awards

10/15/2026

💡 What happens when local leaders champion family planning in their own communities? In Dakar, Senegal, the answer was $10,000 — secured through the power of sustained advocacy.

The Advocacy and Monitoring Core Group in Dakar made it happen, successfully mobilizing a meaningful investment from Woodside Energy to support family planning services in their region. This is what local ownership looks like in action: communities identifying needs, building the case, and bringing new partners to the table.

At TCI, we believe lasting change is driven from within. Stories like this one remind us why investing in local leadership matters — and what becomes possible when communities lead the way.

Read more at the link below. ⬇️
https://tciurbanhealth.org/from-advocacy-to-action-how-local-leadership-mobilized-10000-for-family-planning-in-dakar-senegal/

10/13/2026

When cities learn from each other, entire communities benefit. 🌏

In the Philippines, a powerful peer-learning model is transforming how local governments sustain family planning programs — not by looking outward for answers, but by turning to one another. Cities are sharing hard-won lessons, practical strategies, and real-world solutions that are already working on the ground. The result? Stronger programs, more resilient health systems, and greater access to family planning services for the people who need them most.

This is what sustainable change looks like — built from within, community by community, city by city.

Read more at the link below to see how this innovative approach is reshaping family planning in the Philippines. Zuellig Family Foundation



https://tciurbanhealth.org/in-the-philippines-cities-are-learning-to-sustain-family-planning-programs-by-learning-from-each-other/

10/08/2026

When communities are ready to make informed choices about their reproductive health, systems need to be ready to meet them. 🌏 That's exactly what's happening in Surabaya, Indonesia — where The Challenge Initiative is working to align community demand for family planning with stronger, more responsive health systems.

This is what sustainable change looks like: not just raising awareness, but ensuring the services, supplies, and support are in place when people need them most. It's a model that puts people at the center — and builds the infrastructure to keep them there. Jalin Foundation

Curious about how Surabaya is making it work? Read more at the link below.


https://tciurbanhealth.org/strengthening-family-planning-services-in-surabaya-indonesia-from-community-demand-to-stronger-systems/

10/06/2026

When a doctor remembers every patient by name, something powerful is at work.

Dr. Sadia Afroze doesn't just treat patients — she carries their stories. Working at the Nagor Shastho Kendro Primary Health Clinic in Dhaka South, she represents a generation of health providers navigating both the deeply personal and the systemic dimensions of primary care. Her experience reminds us that lasting health system change begins with the people at its heart — the clinicians who show up, day after day, with both skill and compassion.

TCI's work in Bangladesh is built on exactly this foundation: strengthening systems while honoring the human beings within them.

Discover Dr. Afroze's story and what clinical empathy looks like in practice. Read more at the link below. SAJIDA Foundation
https://tciurbanhealth.org/the-case-that-cannot-be-forgotten-a-doctors-lived-experience-of-clinical-empathy-and-systemic-transition-in-dhaka-south/

09/30/2026

🌍 Access to family planning is a right – not a privilege. Today, we're proud to launch Lagos RISE, a bold new initiative expanding family planning services across all 20 Local Government Areas in Lagos State, Nigeria.

This milestone means thousands more women and families in one of Africa's most populous cities will have greater access to the reproductive health care they need and deserve. Lagos RISE reflects our commitment to reaching communities where gaps in care are greatest – and ensuring no one is left behind.

We're grateful to our partners on the ground helping make this vision a reality.

Read more about what Lagos RISE means for Lagos State at the link below. 👇
https://tciurbanhealth.org/the-challenge-initiative-launches-lagos-rise-to-expand-family-planning-access-across-20-lgas-in-lagos-state-nigeria/

09/28/2026

TCI 's latest quarterly newsletter highlights its new funding report and stories from all eight regional hubs -

Quarterly Insights from The Challenge Initiative.

09/25/2026

Tomorrow is World Contraception Day.

Read Holding the Line: the first report using frontline data on women's health, a year and a half after the global funding cuts.

https://tciurbanhealth.org/family-planning-gains-drop-by-half-across-214-cities-in-africa-and-asia-since-the-u-s-withdrew-global-health-aid-new-data-show/

09/22/2026

The pace of growth has more than halved.

Across all 214 TCI-supported locations, the number of women using modern contraception grew steadily each year since 2017 - then the global funding cuts hit. In January 2025, locations were adding 1.86 million users a year. By June 2026, that pace had fallen to 844,000. The growth hasn't stopped. It's been cut in half.

Read the report:https://media.tciurbanhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/21093438/FundingCutsReport.pdf

08/27/2026

Over 10,000 people received family planning counseling without any additional cost for outreach.

In Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, local government leaders did something remarkable: they wove family planning services directly into an already-funded MNCH Week. The result? 7,358 new family planning clients who were reached through smart integration, strong leadership, and a commitment to making every health touchpoint count.

This is what sustainable, locally-led health systems look like in practice. It's a model worth learning from. Read more at the link below. 👇

https://tciurbanhealth.org/in-akwa-ibom-nigeria-lga-leaders-wove-family-planning-into-mnch-week-without-adding-a-single-naira/