Country Experiences

Family planning program managers and planners can learn from each other’s experiences. Sharing knowledge strengthens programs efficiently, helps avoid costly, time-consuming trial-and-error,helps growing programs to succeed more quickly and successful programs to improve further. This Country Experiences section of the Elements of Family Planning Success Toolkit provides resources describing the program and country specific experiences related to the 10 family planning program elements. The experiences and lessons presented can help program managers, donor agency staff, policymakers, and other family planning professionals to plan new programs, improve existing programs, and prepare for future developments and challenges.

Supportive Policies (10 resources)

Supportive policies help ensure that family planning has a prominent place on the national agenda, that adequate financial resources are allocated, and that family planning services are affordable and accessible. In this section of the Toolkit you'll find resources that review the history and evolution of family planning policies as well as country specific examples describing how family planning policies have influenced programs, access and service delivery.

    Evidence-Based Programming (4 resources)

    Successful family planning programs use research to help tailor programs to their context and use monitoring and evaluation to inform and strengthen program planning and management. This section of the Toolkit includes resources describing country and program experiences in using research to understand family planning need and effective service delivery strategies, as well as resources describing how programs have implemented best practices and evidence-based practices into family planning programs.

      Leadership & Management (4 resources)

      Strong leadership coupled with good management helps programs improve and expand services, scale up best practices, and navigate change. Here you will find resources on how family planning program managers and service delivery providers have benefited from learning and using good leadership and management skills.

        Effective Communication (4 resources)

        Communication grounded in behavior theory and sensitive to local norms motivates clients to seek services and helps them make good family planning choices. The resources included in this section of the Toolkit provide examples on how communication efforts, using various strategies, have influenced knowledge and attitudes on family planning as well as the reach of programs and services.

          Contraceptive Security (7 resources)

          A strong logistics system and a long-term plan for contraceptive security ensure that a variety of methods, and the supplies and equipment to provide them, are always available. This section of the Toolkit includes briefs and reports on country and program experiences in achieving or making progress towards contraceptive security by ensuring contraceptive options and availability.

            Trained Staff (1 resources)

            Training staff well and keeping them motivated will result in an increase in staff performance and efficiency. This section of the Toolkit includes resources related on how programs have trained staff, invested in professional development for staff and have addressed staff needs to improve their program and service delivery.

              Client-Centered Care (5 resources)

              Planning and providing services with the clients in mind help to make sure their needs are met and their preferences are honored. The resources included in this section describe program experiences in implementing client-centered care.

                Easy Access (5 resources)

                Offering family planning services through a variety of delivery points helps clients obtain services easily and makes methods available to more potential users. Here you will find resources on how community-based distribution and other strategies have been used to increase provision of contraceptives. For more country experiences on community-based family planning you can go to the Country Experiences tab of the Community-Based Family Planning Toolkit.

                  Affordable Services (8 resources)

                  Services that are not affordable can pose a major barrier to women and couples seeking out family planning. This section of the toolkit includes resources on how programs have addressed financial barriers to accessing family planning services. Specifically, resources on tapping into the private sector and use vouchers are included here.

                    Integrated Services (13 resources)

                    Programs can address a wider range of health needs by integrating services where appropriate and offering referrals where it is not. In this section of the Toolkit many resources are included on integrating family planning services. Resources on specific program experiences are found here as well as reports on the evidence and policies supporting integration of services.