Respecting, Protecting, and Fulfilling Informed Choice and Rights :

Briefs

Improving Clients’ Access to Long-Acting Methods: Enhancing the Capacity of IPPF Member Associations in West Africa (Project Brief No. 24)
Contraceptive use in West Africa is very low, and long-acting and permanent methods (LA/PMs) in particular are underutilized. To address this need, the RESPOND Project launched an initiative in 2011 in collaboration with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to build the capacity of six West African member associations (MAs). The first three MAs were supported through a six-step process of self-assessment, capacity building, contraceptive technology updating, and action planning, using the Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (OCAT). Use of LA/PMs and overall contraceptive use increased significantly during the initiative. These three MAs also led an additional three MAs through an abbreviated version of the same process, sharing their experiences and building their own capacity for facilitation and assessment. The latter group of MAs reported finding the OCAT process both helpful and necessary, said they would continue to use OCAT, and reported that the process had improved their ability to offer LA/PM services.
Available in English (PDF, 3.1 MB)

Expanding Contraceptive Choice in West Africa: Building the Capacity of Local Nongovernmental Organizations to Program Holistically (Project Brief No. 15)
Between 2011 and 2013, member associations of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Togo received technical assistance to expand people’s access to a wide range of family planning options. The MAs assessed their capacity to provide long-acting reversible contraceptives using RESPOND’s Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool. Managers from the MAs participated in an organizational capacity-building and design workshop, and providers and supervisors from the MAs received training to improve family planning services. The initiative also involved the MAs’ developing holistic action plans, conducting a second self-assessment, and sharing their experiences with each other at a South-to-South consultative meeting. Over the course of the intervention, all three MAs saw marked increases in the number of couple-years of protection they provided.
Available in English (PDF, 3.3 MB) and French (PDF, 3.2 MB)

Achieving Positive Policy Changes for Family Planning in Bangladesh (Project Brief No. 8)
While contraceptive prevalence in Bangladesh has increased nearly eight-fold over the past 30 years and the total fertility rate has fallen, policy barriers and outdated medical eligibility criteria still sometimes impede clients' access to the method of their choice—particularly long-acting and permanent methods. Using EngenderHealth's Supply-Enabling Environment-Demand (SEED) programming model, the RESPOND/Mayer Hashi project worked with the Directorate General of Family Planning to improve the policy environment around LA/PM use, through a careful, structured process that relied heavily on consultation with local partners about critical obstacles in the field. Regulations on access to tubal sterilization and to implants were loosened, clinic registration procedures were streamlined, and postpartum family planning services were introduced into private facilities.
Available in English (PDF, 3.2 MB)

Making Family Planning Accessible, and Affordable: The Experience of Malawi (Project Brief No. 6)
Malawi has made notable strides in the provision of family planning services. In addition to a dramatic increase in the use of modern contraceptive methods overall, Malawi has seen sustained use of injectable contraceptives and of long-acting and permanent methods. This review of Malawi's family planning program provides a better understanding of the factors that underpin its recent successes, by highlighting key achievements, relaying the story behind the program's success, and examining plans for sustaining and building on its recent achievements.
Available in English (PDF, 3.6 MB)

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COPE, Men As Partners, and MAP are registered trademarks of EngenderHealth. SEED is a trademark of EngenderHealth.
Photo credits: M. Tuschman/EngenderHealth; A. Fiorente/EngenderHealth; C. Svingen/EngenderHealth.

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The RESPOND Project Digital Archive, Version 2.0