Welcome to the Publication Archives of USAID-funded Health Policy Projects.

Browse Health Policy Project (2010-2016) Materials

↑ top


Files will load from www.healthpolicyproject.com.

List entries are alphabetical by title and contain the title, abstract, and then the filename which is hyperlinked and will open in a new browser window. Most files are PDFs. There may be multiple files per abstract.

Religious Leaders/FBOs

HP+ More recent Religious Leaders/FBOs publications are available.

  • Based on the UTETEZI Project curriculum, Advocacy for Improved Access to Services for MSM: A Workshop Curriculum for a Multi-Stakeholder Policy Advocacy Project, this advocacy for policy change guide is designed for use by MSM (men who have sex with men) groups, community-based organizations (CBOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and individuals working in HIV and MSM health to help them advocate regionally, nationally, and locally for improved HIV and health-related MSM policies. In particular, this guide can serve as an important tool for CSOs working on MSM issues in hostile legal environments.

  • Malawi is one of the fastest-growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The country’s population has more than tripled over the past 40 years, and is expected to triple again by 2040. This growth is undermining Malawi’s economic development, destroying its natural resources, and placing immense strain on social services such as health and education. Malawi’s population growth is fueled by high fertility, in combination with a lack of access to family planning services. Religious leaders in Malawi have a key role to play in addressing population and family planning issues.  The Health Policy Project worked in partnership with the Government of Malawi to engage religious leaders to become active partners in addressing these issues. With the project’s support, representatives from Malawi’s religious “mother bodies”—the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), the Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA), and the Qadria Muslim Association of Malawi (QMAM)—came together in an interfaith effort to draft this advocacy guide. Two versions of the guide were created, one for Muslim leaders and one for Christian leaders. These guides are intended to serve as tools to support religious leaders’ advocacy efforts on population and family planning. The guides were translated into the local Chichewa language to reach a wider audience of religious leaders.

  • Malawi is one of the fastest-growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The country’s population has more than tripled over the past 40 years, and is expected to triple again by 2040. This growth is undermining Malawi’s economic development, destroying its natural resources, and placing immense strain on social services such as health and education. Malawi’s population growth is fueled by high fertility, in combination with a lack of access to family planning services. Religious leaders in Malawi have a key role to play in addressing population and family planning issues.  The Health Policy Project worked in partnership with the Government of Malawi to engage religious leaders to become active partners in addressing these issues. With the project’s support, representatives from Malawi’s religious “mother bodies”—the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), the Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA), and the Qadria Muslim Association of Malawi (QMAM)—came together in an interfaith effort to draft this advocacy guide. Two versions of the guide were created, one for Muslim leaders and one for Christian leaders. These guides are intended to serve as tools to support religious leaders’ advocacy efforts on population and family planning. The guides were translated into the local Chichewa language to reach a wider audience of religious leaders.

  • In June 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya announced policies to remove user fees in dispensaries and health centers and to provide free maternal health services in all public health facilities. This report presents the findings of a study conducted in Kenya by the USAID-funded Health Policy Project (HPP) to establish baseline measures for evaluating the impact of these policies. The Kenya Ministry of Health, with support from HPP, identified the need to monitor and evaluate the impact of the policies on utilization, service provision, and revenue collection, among other indicators.

  • Over the past two years, the Health Policy Project (HPP) has been working with religious organizations (mother bodies) in Malawi to organize districtwide “Population Weekends.” The purpose of these weekends is for communities to hear about population and development issues, including family planning (FP), in their places of worship. In March and April 2015, HPP worked with the Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR) to conduct public polling in two districts (Salima and Thyolo) to see if any insights could be gleaned to inform future design and implementation of FP programs. The findings in this brief are drawn from a survey of 754 respondents that took place in March 2015 (before implementation of population weekend activities).

  • Energy is extremely expensive in Jordan, and 97 percent of all energy used in Jordan is imported. Energy costs are equivalent to nearly 21 percent of the total annual gross domestic product; energy costs are equivalent to 32 percent of the value of all annual imports; and energy costs are equivalent to the value of 83 percent of all exports. As the population grows, so will the consumption of energy, and consequently, the expenses to provide the amount of energy required in the future. If Jordan is to meet its future needs for energy, it must address multiple issues, including the scarcity of local oil, rising prices of oil in the international market, critical and serious supply-demand imbalances, costly new sources (infrastructure and operating), and the increasing pressure on resources from changes in population, development, and lifestyles. Resolving these issues will take a concerted effort and commitment from the government and the people of Jordan; and each of these issues needs to be addressed in multiple and different ways. One of the least expensive approaches that can be taken immediately, and is the underlying theme of this presentation, is to reduce population growth. 

    This RAPID presentation, developed by the Health Policy Project in collaboration with the Jordan Higher Population Council, demonstrates that future population growth will directly affect the ability of Jordan to provide sufficient energy resources. While reducing population growth will not be sufficient in eliminating all of the energy issues facing the country, it is a necessary step that needs to be taken in combination with many others if Jordan is to successfully resolve its pressing energy situation.

  • Jordan’s continued economic development and concomitant population growth is putting increased pressure on natural resources and the environment. Over the past 40+ years, the gap between the ecological footprint and the local capacity has grown, and this deficit has largely been made up for by importing goods, especially food and energy, from abroad.

    Productive land in Jordan is limited. Only 11 percent of the total land area can be considered agricultural land---of which less than 2 percent is arable; the rest is ranges and forests. As population size increases, so does the need for more land to produce food and build houses, businesses, recreation areas, schools and health facilities, roads, and mosques, as well as other supporting uses.

    This RAPID presentation, developed by the Health Policy Project in collaboration with Jordan's Higher Population Council, demonstrates that future population growth will directly affect the use of land in Jordan. While reducing population growth will not be sufficient in eliminating all the pressures being placed on the land, it is a necessary step that needs to be taken in combination with many others if Jordan is to successfully resolve its pressing land use situation.

  • The PANCAP Stigma Framework was developed with assistance from the USAID- and PEPFAR-supported Health Policy Project in response to regional and national requests made to PANCAP for direction on responding to stigma and discrimination in the Caribbean. Stigma and discrimination continue to be key drivers of the Caribbean HIV epidemic and are major obstacles to effective responses. Their impact on Caribbean health and development is wide ranging. HPP provided technical and financial support for PANCAP partners with experience in reducing stigma and discrimination to review existing frameworks and Caribbean tools to inform the drafting of a comprehensive approach. A small group of technical experts from HPP drafted the initial framework to meet the needs of small countries, island states, and emerging nations. This framework has initially engaged and will serve to strengthen the capacity of national HIV programs to develop, implement, and monitor effective policies and programs, and to address HIV in a sustainable manner at the national level. The PANCAP Stigma Framework is built on three components, health and development, collective empowerment, and social justice and gender equality, which are crucial in addressing the Caribbean response to HIV-related stigma and discrimination. 

  • About one-in-four Malawian women of reproductive age have an unmet need for family planning. The 2010 Demographic and Health Survey found that 26 percent of all births in the preceding five years had been unwanted and that an additional 19 percent were mistimed, indicating that nearly half of all women in Malawi are not adequately meeting their reproductive intentions. Unwanted and mistimed pregnancies contribute substantially to high maternal mortality and increase the strain on already limited resources for health, education, natural resources, and food security.

    With over 97 percent of Malawians belonging to an organized religion, faith leaders could be an important conduit of social change. In 2013, to support the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development’s strategy to raise awareness about population and development issues, HPP engaged  Malawi’s six major religious institutions (known locally as “mother bodies”)—the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, Evangelical Association of Malawi, Malawi Council of Churches, Muslim Association of Malawi, Seventh Day Adventists, and Quadria Muslim Association of Malawi—and their local faith leaders. HPP organized training and sensitization meetings with over 1000 faith leaders, to help them speak openly about population and family planning issues. After one year, Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), the governing body of the Catholic Church in Malawi, decided they wanted to further institutionalize these activities and messages. They requested HPP’s assistance with drafting a booklet on family planning for use by Catholic marriage counselors. The booklet, which is available in both English and Chichewa, provides counselors with an introduction to population and development issues, as well as basic information on medical and natural family planning methods.