Repositioning in Action E-Bulletin
April 2006
The e-bulletin was developed to provide a forum for the exchange of information, experiences, and lessons learned as we work to improve sustainable access to quality family planning services and commodities.
Table of Contents
Uganda: Making the Case for Family Planning
Uganda is often upheld as the region’s greatest success in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. However, like most African countries, Uganda still faces high levels of poverty, food insecurity, malaria, and other preventable infectious diseases. Progress in addressing these development issues has been inhibited by high rates of fertility. A Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development survey shows a high correlation between household poverty and high levels of fertility.¹ Despite this evidence, the connection between high rates of fertility and the impact on achieving other development goals is not broadly accepted by key national leaders.
More than two-thirds of Ugandans have an unmet need for family planning; however, according to recent DHS data, only 20% of married women are using any method of contraception.² “Revitalizing Family Planning," as the effort is called in Uganda, has identified a lack of information as a key obstacle to meeting the reproductive health needs of women and men, and has prioritized improvements in service delivery as well as increasing accurate information among providers, men and women as key approaches in the revitalization.
UGANDA’S STRATEGY
USAID/Uganda is working diligently with the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Population Secretariat and civil society to enhance understanding of the role of family planning in achieving development goals. Key achievements and priority activities include:
- Support local ownership
- The MOH developed an RH strategy
- Elevated priority of family planning within the MOH RH strategy
- Involve multiple sectors
- MOH, Ministry of Finance (the Population Secretariat), civil society, international agencies and NGOs meet regularly as a Revitalize Family Planning working group
- Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Gender and Development participate as implementing partners
- Raise family planning’s visibility
- “Uganda could make major strides towards reducing its fertility and rate of population growth by simply meeting the already expressed need for family planning services.” (Mission Director, 2004, IBP Conference)
- Link to country development objectives
- Family planning identified as a key health and development issue during the 2004 Implementing Best Practices (IBP) process
- Family planning identified in the Mission Strategy as a priority area for investment
- Invest in programs
- Improve and intensify service delivery
- Ensure regular supply of commodities
- Upgrade technical information and skills of service providers
- Increase communication effort to combat misinformation
- Provide a unified vision
- National Family Planning Advocacy Strategy adopted
¹Voters Want the Next Government to fight Poverty, Daily Monitor Online
² Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, 2000-2001.
UGANDA’S NATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING ADVOCACY STRATEGY AT A GLANCE
A broad range of stakeholders agreed that family planning required increased visibility and champions to enhance the understanding of its role in the achievement of development goals. In order to coordinate this effort, stakeholders created a strategy to inform a wide variety of political, religious, cultural and community leaders. The advocacy strategy provides a unified framework and common language, and identifies priorities for Revitalizing Family Planning.
The strategy:
- Explains why family planning is relevant in Uganda
- Defines an advocacy and discusses its purpose
- Identifies national frameworks relevant to family planning
- Identifies advocacy strategy framework
- Illustrates a strategy matrix with objectives, target audiences, action points, lead agencies and partners, and indicators
- Details the action plan
- Creates the monitoring and evaluation plan
An example from the strategy targets District and Local Councils:
Advocacy Objective |
Action Points |
Indicators |
| District and Local Councils adopt resolutions and actively support increased resource allocations for family planning as a priority health, population, and development strategy at district and lower levels. |
- Hold meetings for district technical officers and leaders to plan and budget for family planning
- Develop and widely disseminate a range of advocacy messages and materials targeting district and lower-level leaders and politicians
|
- District resolutions developed and adopted (# districts)
- District and local politicians and leaders actively/publicly promoting use of FP services
|
Have You Seen...
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform
A two-week training course sponsored by the World Bank
For more details on the training, please visit the World Bank website
Poverty and Health Equity
“Poverty Reduction: Does Reproductive Health Matter"
World Bank Paper [PDF, 1.8MB] and Event Summary
Panel - Margaret Greene, Thomas Merrick, Rachel Nugent
January 24, 2006 – Woodrow Wilson Center, DC
- Financing for the "Cairo" agenda is falling far short of changing needs
- Resources can be mobilized through the new poverty-reduction, MDG-focused mechanisms that donors and governments are embracing
- To tap into these resources, RH advocates must demonstrate that poor RH outcomes undermine poverty reduction at the country level
Population Reference Bureau Publications
For more information on Poverty and Equity issues, please contact Mai Hijazi at mhijazi@usaid.gov.
We Want to Tell Your Repositioning Story
Please contact Kim Ocheltree at kocheltree@usaid.gov with your successes in family planning programming.
For more information on Repositioning Family Planning, please contact Shawn Malarcher at smalarcher@usaid.gov or Joan Robertson at jrobertson@usaid.gov.
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