This brief from the Global Center for Gender Equality (GCfGE) outlines how GPEI partners in Nigeria are tackling deeply entrenched gender-related barriers — particularly the lack of fathers' consent for vaccination — through three mutually reinforcing approaches.

Fathers for Good Health (F4H), launched by Bauchi State and UNICEF in June 2024, mobilises respected community men to engage other fathers, secure consent, and promote shared responsibility for children's health; it now operates in at least 10 LGAs across four states. Mama2Mama (M2M) groups and the Community Reorientation Women Network (CRoWN) — co-created by SCIDaR and the Aliko Dangote Foundation — strengthen women's health literacy, counter misinformation, and have evolved into self-sustaining savings and loans groups that empower their members. Partnerships with traditional and religious leaders anchor immunization in existing systems of authority: their involvement in selecting vaccinators contributed to a 13% rise in coverage and helped reduce fake finger-marking. Together, these efforts have delivered thousands of IPV and OPV doses to previously missed children, increased antenatal care uptake, and reduced non-compliance by 16% between April and June 2025.