Community Health and Research Initiative

The Community Health and Research Initiative (CHRI) is a nonprofit for promoting health of pregnant women; reducing maternal mortality; and fostering research on maternal, newborn, and child health in Nigeria. With this award, CHRI is advocating for and improving accountability of budgetary allocations for essential life-saving services and medications, and reducing the risk of maternal mortality in target high-risk states. The organization is providing technical assistance to civil society groups and coalitions; educating and collaborating with media professionals and health sector reporters; monitoring and reporting of budget allocations; and facilitating access to essential maternal health services for pregnant women and girls in Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, and Sokoto states.

Community Health and Research Initiative (CHR) was incorporated in 2003 to promote sexual and reproductive health and child survival in Nigeria through research, policy analysis, capacity building, advocacy and social mobilization.This project represents one component of a package of seven grants that together address multiple approaches to improving government accountability on maternal health in Nigeria. The combination of these funding recommendations (plus two ongoing projects) is expected to strengthen budget commitments, increase political will of executive and legislative arms of governments, ensure greater transparency and efficiency in the use of resources, improve hospital-based quality of care, increased community level engagement, promote legal approaches, and engage investigative journalism. This specific grant to CHR falls primarily in the category of ensuring transparency and efficiency of human and financial resources, increasing political commitment of executive branch of government and improving hospital-based quality of care.

To support advocacy and budget tracking for improved maternal health services, with a view to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity in Kano, Bauchi and Sokoto states (over three years).

To work with 10 local governments and the Kano state government to reposition the commitment to address maternal mortality and morbidity through improved budgetary allocation and service delivery (over thirty two months).