Solina Centre for International Development and Research -SCIDaR

13/05/2026

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal mortality globally, accounting for about 27% of maternal deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO also estimates that nearly 14 million women experience PPH every year.

A key challenge in preventing deaths from PPH has been delayed detection, often driven by reliance on visual estimation of blood loss during childbirth.

At health facilities supported through our maternal health interventions, this is beginning to change.

Health workers are now using calibrated drapes to measure blood loss in real time, enabling earlier detection and faster response to complications.

As health workers become more confident and response times improve, maternal care is becoming more precise, timely, and safer for mothers.

13/05/2026

From 20 to 24 April 2026, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held a high‑level mission in Kinshasa under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The visit brought together government representatives and technical partners from both countries to reinforce coordination and surveillance efforts along shared borders.

The mission, led by Dr. Alda De Sousa, Director of Angola’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), focused on improving outbreak response, data management, and logistics systems. Delegates visited the Polio Emergency Operations Committee (COUP‑RDC), the Kinshasa Vaccine Hub, and the National Polio Reference Laboratory (INRB) to exchange best practices and strengthen operational collaboration.

Solina’s Consultants played a pivotal role in supporting the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) discussions, showcasing how data‑driven approaches enhance campaign quality, accountability, and timely delivery of results. The team’s contribution was recognized by partners for improving coordination and the overall effectiveness of emergency response activities. This contribution was recognized by partners, with both countries reaffirming their trust on Solina’s technical support to enhance overall outbreak response effectiveness.

The meeting concluded with both countries agreeing to strengthen routine surveillance and vaccination at border entry points, while committing to developing a comprehensive list of formal and informal entry points to better target foreign populations. Plans were also made for a synchronized vaccination campaign in May 2026 across five DRC provinces bordering Angola—Kongo Central, Kwango, Kasai, Kasai Central, and Lualaba.

12/05/2026

We’re excited to announce that SCIDaR will be attending the 2026 Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama City from June 22–26!

SCIDaR will join global leaders, policymakers, private sector actors, community leaders, and other key stakeholders to address pressing global health and development challenges. Together, we’ll exchange insights, share lessons learned, identify opportunities for growth, and explore pathways to scale solutions tailored to the realities of our communities.

Hosting this year’s summit in Panama City, a place recognized for its historic contributions to social and behavior change communication, makes this convening especially significant and one we’re proud to be part of.

12/05/2026

12/05/2026

When a girl is sent from her village to the city, the arrangement often arrives through someone trusted, an auntie, a grandmother, a neighbour who knows a family in Lagos. The parents say "Nagode, Allah", thank you, God and try to believe that school, safety, and a better life are waiting on the other end of the journey.

But for many girls, that hope quietly rearranges itself. She wakes before everyone and sleeps after everyone. School becomes "soon," then "later," then nothing at all. And when she asks why, she's told to be grateful for the roof over her head.

Because this happens within families, it is rarely called harm. It is called help, assistance or care.

In Episode 26 of The Norms Lab Podcast, Anjola Ayodele sits with Masturah Baba to ask what we lose when the language of kindness covers the shape of exploitation, and what it would take for a family weighing this decision today to see the arrangement clearly before their daughter boards the bus.

The conversation moves through:
- Why families say yes, and what they're really being promised
- How education quietly dissolves into full-time domestic work
- Why girls stay silent, and why the adults around them hesitate to intervene
- What care actually looks like, when it isn't a cover for something else

Help can become harm when it hardens into a norm we stop questioning.

🎧 Watch here: https://youtu.be/mzg-nLrzZv8
🎧 Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5MuP35USSasNkLBOcR47QW?si=da922c2178b34331

06/05/2026

According to the latest WHO and UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC), 14.3 million children globally remain zero-dose, meaning they have not received even a single routine vaccine dose.

For many families, the challenge goes beyond access to health services. It is shaped by social norms, mobility constraints, and household decision-making that influence whether and when a child gets vaccinated.

Reaching these children takes more than just making services available. It requires approaches that meet people where they are. This includes building trust through community engagement, supporting caregivers with the right information, using local channels to share timely updates, and bringing services closer through outreach and mobile sessions.

These efforts help create real access, even in situations where movement is limited or decisions are not straightforward. Stories like Sadiya’s show what is possible when these barriers are understood and addressed.

Every child deserves protection.

06/05/2026

The Basic Education in Nigeria Bootcamp (BEN-B) Summit is one of the few spaces where federal and state leadership, development partners, civil society, and non-state actors come together not just to discuss the state of basic education in Nigeria, but to make decisions about where it goes next. This year’s summit, held April 28–30, 2026 at Crispan Hotel, Jos, Plateau State, delivered substantive outcomes.

In attendance were the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa CON, who shared updates on the sector; the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’idu Ahmad, who outlined ongoing interventions; and Dr. Folake Olatunji-David, Director of Basic Education, representing the Permanent Secretary, who delivered the opening remarks. Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang was represented by Deputy Governor Mrs. Josephine Piyo, who gave the keynote address.

Also present were the Deputy Executive Secretary (Technical) representing UBEC, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, State Commissioners of Education, SUBEB Chairmen, representatives from NERDC and TRCN, alongside development and technical partners and officials from the Federal Ministry of Education.

Two key national policies were launched: the National Policy on Alternative Learning Pathways in Nigeria, and the National Guidelines for the Re-entry of Pregnant and Married Adolescent Girls into Schools—an important step toward addressing one of the most persistent barriers to girls’ education completion.

Delegates engaged in thematic sessions across Data and Digitization, out-of-school children, teacher development, skills acquisition, foundational literacy and numeracy, and sector planning.

SCIDaR facilitated the sector planning group, supporting SUBEBs to update their State Medium Term Basic Education Strategic Plans (SMTBESPs) in line with the revised National Medium Term Basic Education Strategic Plan (NMTBESP). The session created a structured pathway to translate national priorities into state-level, actionable plans.

Across discussions, the focus shifted from high-level strategy to practical implementation, ensuring alignment with national reforms while enabling context-specific ex*****on at the state level.

SCIDaR will continue to support federal and state stakeholders to strengthen sector planning processes, ensuring that national priorities are translated into actionable, trackable, and continuously improved state-level plans.

05/05/2026

In April 2026, the Republic of Niger took a bold step to strengthen health services in insecure regions by training frontline military health personnel to deliver care where access is limited.

For the first time, the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Defense and the Directorate of Surveillance, Outbreak and Diseases (DSRE), led a 12-day training in Niamey for personnel deployed in Diffa, Tahoua, and Tillabéri, areas where insecurity has disrupted civilian health services.

With support from Solina, in collaboration with the GPEI Niger team and funding from the Gates Foundation, 25 military health workers were equipped to detect Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), identify vaccine-preventable diseases, monitor malnutrition risks, and strengthen routine immunization.

In conflict-affected settings, military health personnel are often among the few able to reach underserved populations. By strengthening their capacity in Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), Niger is expanding access to essential health services for families in security-compromised areas.

The training also covered ODK-based data reporting, community engagement, communication, and civil-military collaboration, enabling sustained vaccination outreach and disease surveillance over the next six months.

This first cohort marks the start of a broader effort, with additional trainings planned for July and October 2026, and further expansion in 2027. Solina is also supporting the development and implementation of a post-training action plan to ensure impact translates into improved health outcomes alongside national partners.

Solina and partners used the opportunity to pay a courtesy visit to the Health Minister and Defense stakeholders to strengthen coordination and integration of health interventions, to improve health outcomes in security-compromised areas.

This workshop forms part of Niger’s ongoing efforts to build a more resilient health system and improve vaccination coverage and epidemiological surveillance nationwide.

Read full blog post here: https://scidar.org/niger-military-health-immunization-surveillance/

04/05/2026

When systems, data, and collaboration come together, the result is progress and transformation at scale.

At the 29th Quarterly Meeting of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), SCIDaR joined key stakeholders to drive conversations centered on digitally enabled coordination, stronger planning systems, and more effective delivery of basic education across Nigeria.

Across sessions, it became clear that improving education outcomes requires both scale and structure. Updates from UBEC and SUBEBs showed just how much ground is being covered, with over 4,000 new classrooms constructed, 7.8 million teaching and learning materials distributed, over 2,000 digital devices deployed, and interventions reaching more than 4 million learners nationwide. Beyond the numbers, the conversations pointed to a shift toward more coordinated planning and stronger alignment across states. The rollout of the revised National and State Medium-Term Basic Education Strategic Plans reinforced the importance of structured, forward-looking planning in guiding interventions and improving results.

At the implementation level, UBEC reaffirmed its commitment to consolidating efforts toward shared education goals. A presentation by SCIDaR emphasised the alignment of Basic Education Action Plan (BEAP) activities with the ongoing World Bank–supported HOPE-EDU operations. This complements SCIDaR’s technical support to SUBEBs in developing their BEAPs, further strengthening coordinated planning and ex*****on across the system.

There was also a strong focus on getting the foundations right through strengthening financial processes, improving compliance, and ensuring that systems can sustain the scale of delivery already being achieved.

Digital transformation featured prominently throughout, which brought to life the launch of the Basic Education Action Planning Management System (BEAPMS), marking a transition to a fully digital platform for planning and implementation.

SCIDaR Principal, Dr. Raihanah Ibrahim, moderated a panel session with partners across government and development institutions, unpacking what it really takes to implement digital solutions at the state level, from coordination and sustainability to working within existing systems. The conversation was practical, grounded, and focused on what can actually work at scale.

What’s becoming clearer is that improving basic education outcomes isn’t only about expanding access, it’s about strengthening the systems behind delivery and using data and technology more intentionally.

SCIDaR remains committed to supporting this shift, working alongside partners to translate strategy into measurable impact for learners across the country.

01/05/2026

Today, we celebrate the people behind the progress.

To every worker showing up each day with dedication, resilience, and purpose, we thank you for the role you play in driving impact, supporting communities, and building a better future.

Your work matters. Your impact is felt. Happy Workers’ Day from SCIDaR!

28/04/2026

In Cameroon’s Far North region, efforts are underway to strengthen immunization and surveillance in high-risk border districts. Solina and the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) team recently visited Cameroon to identify priority border districts for intensified routine immunization and surveillance. The focus is the Far North region, where a measles outbreak persists despite high administrative coverage. Ongoing poliovirus transmission across the Nigeria-Chad border, combined with security challenges, makes this region a critical priority.

Working closely with the GPEI and National EPI team, a total of 19 priority districts were identified after a planning workshop in Maroua, the capital of the far north region. For three days, a joint team from Solina, the regional LCB Task Team, the National EPI, UNICEF, and WHO worked with the district health officers, the surveillance focal points, and the regional EPI team to design targeted costed implementation plans, based on each district's peculiarities, while avoiding duplication of efforts and resources. The implementation is expected to start in May, with financial and technical support from Solina through its LCB project and the LCB Task Team, funded by it.

The plan will focus on boosting routine immunization, strengthening surveillance in the special populations, and consolidating planning and coordination with the international border districts. To ascertain the ex*****on of the activities, the EPI offered to develop a dashboard alongside converting some paper-based reporting tools into an electronic format and embraced the idea of tracking the vaccination teams proposed by the LCB project.

This initiative is fully supported by the EPI Permanent Secretary and the National GPEI coordinator, who emphasized the membership of Solina in the Cameroon GPEI team.