Respecting, Protecting, and Fulfilling Informed Choice and Rights :

Advocacy Materials

Tajikistan’s National Family Planning Stakeholders Meeting: Summary Report, Key Highlights, and Recommendations
Despite high-level commitment to family planning in Tajikistan, a recent survey revealed that that family planning use among married women of reproductive age had declined substantially over the past decade, and more than one in five married Tajik women have an unmet need for family planning. With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, RESPOND worked with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population to facilitate a national meeting of stakeholders to generate a consensus on the importance of increasing access to and use of a wide range of family planning options. This report describes the results of the meeting and outlines recommended next steps to improve access to contraception in Tajikistan.
Available in English (PDF, 3.6 MB)

A Matter of Fact, A Matter of Choice: The Case for Investing in Permanent Contraceptive Methods
Demand to limit further childbearing will continue to rise in low-resource countries as desired family size continues to fall. If family planning programs are to fully meet the needs and preferences of the women and men they serve, across their entire reproductive life cycle, it is essential that both female sterilization and vasectomy become meaningful method options in low-resource countries. This report provides data on use of permanent methods, analyzes challenges to their wider availability, and describes programming approaches that have resulted in widespread, equitable provision of permanent methods at a national scale in Malawi and Tanzania. The paper argues that making permanent methods widely available and equitably accessible as a voluntarily chosen method option in low-resource countries is not only feasible, cost-effective, and popular with clients—it is an ethical imperative.
Available in English (PDF, 3.2MB)

A Fine Balance: Contraceptive Choice in the 21st Century (Bellagio Consultation)
In September 2012, the RESPOND Project convened a diverse group of multidisciplinary experts from 11 countries to examine the intersection of contraceptive choice and human rights, find common ground on the meaning of contraceptive choice, and develop an action agenda on informed and voluntary contraceptive choice. This report on the landmark gathering of family planning and rights experts, donors, and national policymakers summarizes the discussions. In addition to reaffirming that informed and voluntary contraceptive choice is a human right but is still not a reality for women and adolescents in many settings, the participants identified critical steps for advancing an agenda of choice and rights in family planning and reproductive health.
Available in English (PDF, 975 KB)

Voluntary Family Planning Programs that Respect, Protect, and Fulfill Human Rights: A Conceptual Framework
The rights and dignity of individuals are at the center of all family planning work. Voluntary Family Planning Programs that Respect, Protect, and Fulfill Human Rights: A Conceptual Framework presents a practical approach for voluntary family planning programs to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights as they set out to improve health and achieve ambitious family planning goals. This comprehensive framework brings together human rights laws and principles with family planning quality of care frameworks to assist policymakers, program managers, donors, and civil society with program design, implementation, and monitoring, and evaluation.
Available in English (PDF, 2 MB)

Post Abortion Family Planning: A Key Component of Post Abortion Care Consensus Statement (2013)
Calling for a renewed commitment to the health of women following induced abortion, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), International Council of Nurses (ICN), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), White Ribbon Alliance (WRA), Department for International Development (DFID), and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation issued a joint consensus statement on the importance of family planning service provision to women when they are treated for postabortion complications. The statement commits the organizations to ensuring that voluntary family planning counseling and services are included as an essential component of postabortion care in all settings, lays out the rationale for offering family planning to women in such circumstances, and reviews intervention approaches. RESPOND led the process of finalizing the consensus statement.
Available in English (PDF, 837 KB), French (PDF, 840 KB), and
Spanish (PDF, 844 KB)

The Importance of Voluntary Family Planning and Its Provision by Our Members—Consensus Statement
Many types of health care workers play an important role worldwide in providing quality family planning services, preservice education and in-service training for doctors, midwives, and nurses often omits or scants basic education in family planning counseling and service provision. This reduces the ability of these cadres to provide-and women and men to access-the full complement of FP methods and services. In collaboration with RESPOND, the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO), International Congress of Midwives (ICM), and International Council of Nursing (ICN) developed a joint consensus statement emphasizing the importance of family planning, supporting the right of women to universal access to family planning, and identifying the critical role that midwives and nurses have to play as providers and managers in delivering these health services.
Available in English (PDF, 682 KB), French (PDF, 690 KB), Spanish (PDF, 690 KB), and Russian (PDF, 769 KB)

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