To improve the number and capacity of female health workers in six states in Northern Nigeria (Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, Yobe and Borno) while at the same time contributing to women’s empowerment and gender equality in communities and institutions in the North. In the extension phase between April 2018 and October 2020, the programme is focusing on a “building back better” approach in the conflict and humanitarian areas in Yobe and Borno states and ensuring sustainability of the progress achieved over the last five years in Katsina, Kano, Jigawa and Zamfara. The extension is also facilitating institutionalisation of commitment by Federal agencies.