View the latest family planning advocacy news from our partners.
On July 11th, the Spark Minda Foundation joined 15 other private sector partners in making Family Planning 2020 commitments at the 2017 London Summit. Spark Minda, a leading manufacturer of automobile components in India, allocated 1.1 million Indian rupees (US $17,190) per year until 2020 to sensitize 3,000 women and men in the rural areas of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh states about family planning, reproductive health, and menstrual hygiene by 2020.
In July, the government of Bhilwara district in Rajasthan formally acknowledged Advance Family Planning local partner Pathfinder International India for their contribution towards improving family planning services in the area. Their advocacy led to Bhilwara becoming the first district in Rajasthan state to launch injectable contraceptives in the public health system.
Jindal Stainless Ltd., one of the largest stainless steel conglomerates in India, recently added a family planning intervention to their corporate social responsibility program. Jindal Stainless Foundation invested 819,500 Indian rupees (US $12,800) for a project aiming to reach 1,000 beneficiaries with better family planning information and counseling services.
Advance Family Planning (AFP) held a diffusion workshop on June 19-23rd in Uttarakhand, India—the first in a series to be held in different regions where AFP works. The five-day workshop aimed to build facilitation skills in applying AFP’s SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound) advocacy approach as well as provide participants with the opportunity to develop a SMART advocacy objective to implement.
Rajasthan became the second state in India to provide injectable contraceptives (intramuscular DMPA) free of cost in 132 public health facilities on May 27, thanks to a public, private, and non-profit partnership.
As of May, three more drugs are included on the essential drugs list for Rajasthan state in India, ensuring that they will be available at the primary health center level. These drugs are vital for new injectable contraceptive users. The addition to the list was achieved in time for the May 27, 2017 roll-out of injectable contraceptive services at Rajasthan’s primary health centers.
Two districts in India’s Rajasthan state established counseling corners in local public health facilities in April. The private, dedicated counseling spaces ensure that clients can make informed decisions regarding family planning.
For the first time in Jharkhand state, two districts established family planning counseling corners at 13 community health centers. Established between January and March in Bokaro and Ranchi districts, the counseling corners are dedicated spaces for a skilled provider to provide quality family planning counseling to clients.
In February 2017, Spark Minda, one of India¹s leading manufacturers of automobile components, incorporated family planning into its corporate social responsibility program for the first time. As part of an agreement to improve awareness and generate demand for family planning, Spark Minda allocated 402,500 Indian rupees (US $6,015) for conducting sensitization workshops on family planning and reproductive health.
Pathfinder International, in collaboration with Population Reference Bureau and Advance Family Planning, launched a new video this month to encourage national and multinational businesses in India to invest in family planning through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
After three community health centers in in Agra district, Uttar Pradesh, India began providing postpartum intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUD) services, each of the facilities recorded a significant service uptake – 21% in Barauli Aheer, 15% in Bichpuri, and 10% in Kheragarh respectively.+ Between December 2015 to March 2017, a total of 5,939 women delivered at these facilities and, of those women, 895 chose an IUD as their postpartum family planning method.
On January 9, 2017, the National Health Mission of the state government of Rajasthan in India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Advance Family Planning local partner Pathfinder International to improve the quality of family planning services in five districts of Rajasthan: Baran, Bhilwara, Madhopur, Pali, Sawai, and Sirohi.