Pakistan

Overview

Pakistan's population has grown rapidly from the time of its independence in 1947, making it the sixth most-populous country in the world. High levels of fertility and a low use of modern contraceptives contribute to poor health indicators, particularly for women and children. During the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, Pakistan committed to increase its total contraceptive prevalence rate for married women to 55 percent and to provide universal access to reproductive health services by 2020. Pakistan also committed to including contraceptive services in its package of essential health services and to strengthen the quality and reach of its Lady Health Worker's Program (female community health workers primarily servicing rural areas in Pakistan). Pakistan's national vision, Vision 2025, also seeks to alleviate extreme poverty and encourage economic growth. Sustained investments in voluntary family planning programs will help Pakistan to achieve and sustain these poverty-reduction, health, and equity goals.

What We Do

Working primarily in Sindh province, HP+ Pakistan worked from 2016–2018 to improve the enabling environment for Pakistan to achieve its FP2020 goals. HP+'s technical assistance supported efforts to help the province achieve these goals through improved stewardship, policy implementation, advocacy, and accountability. Specifically, HP+:

Supported Sindh's Population Welfare Department to launch the country's first provincial costed implementation plan for family planning
Improved population sector stewardship by strengthening inter-departmental coordination and district-level technical committees
Strengthened Sindh's capacity to implement FP2020-focused policies by mobilizing women leaders as champions for increased advocacy, policy communication, and accountability
Increased the capacity of women, journalists, and male champions to advocate for improved implementation of family planning policies and programs
Contributed to the province's achievement of family planning goals and ongoing efforts to further improve family planning policies, programs, and investments

Project Impacts

Youth-Specific Standards Incorporated in Pakistan’s National Standards and Guidelines

October 2017 —

Participants in the HP+ Women Leadership activity in Pakistan successfully developed and advocated to the Plan Implementation Unit (PIU) of the Population Welfare Department (PWD) for the inclusion of youth-specific standards in the National Manual on Family Planning Standards & Guidelines. As a result, the manual now has a section on youth-friendly family planning services, which includes a youth-friendly facility description and checklist for all district level outlets where family planning services are being provided. For the first time, district health facilities will have guidance to ensure youth find services tailored to their needs. Using results from the RAPID mode l , the HP+ Pakistan team developed a video showing the effects of population growth on agriculture, water, education and health, and illustrated the number of unintended pregnancies and maternal and child deaths that will be averted if the contraceptive prevalence rate goal in the Costed Implementation Plan is met. The Plan Implementation unit showed the video during a high-level policy forum on August 11th.

World Population Day 2017 – Investing in Family Planning to Meet the SDGs

July 2017 —

This World Population Day, the USAID-funded Health Policy Plus project produced an online slideshow featuring responses to the question, "How can family planning investments help your country achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?" Olive Mtema, HP+ Malawi, responds: “Results from HP+’s DemDiv model estimate that Malawi’s per capita gross domestic product could increase from US$397 (2014) to US$2,148 by 2054 when family planning is included, turning Malawi into a middle-income country around the year 2040.”  Responses from Ms. Olive and others are captured in a photo show,  and in a blog by HP+ country directors from Malawi, Nigeria, and Pakistan. 

Pakistan’s Women Leaders Advocate for Youth Family Planning Services

June 2017 —

Participants in the USAID-funded Health Policy Plus (HP+) project’s Women's Leadership initiative in Pakistan have had tremendous success, directly contributing to policy and other efforts aimed at expanding outreach and access to family planning services for youth. Collectively, the women successfully advocated for the inclusion of youth-specific indicators to monitor the country's costed implementation plan and developed youth-specific guidelines for Pakistan's Manual of Standards for Family Planning Services. They provided recommendations to Sindh province's FP2020 working group and to the government—the latter of which ensured the funding and operationalizing of critical youth-friendly activities.

These wins come on the heels of three HP+ Women's Leadership for Family Planning workshops focused on increasing the women's confidence, capacity, and connections to achieve health policy and governance outcomes. HP+ initiated the Women's Leadership program in Pakistan late last year. The last of the three workshops was held in April.

Now, HP+ is continuing to support the women in their advocacy efforts and tracking their successes in our unfolding story on their progress.

Evidence to Support Family Planning Informs Ministerial Meeting in Pakistan

November 2016 —

Pakistani ministers of education, planning and development, and food security drew content from the recently published paper by the USAID-funded Health Policy Plus project called 17 Reasons to Invest in Family Planning in Pakistan: Accelerating Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals to inform their remarks at a recent population research conference. The conference – Investing in Family Planning for SDGs 1 to 6 – included a special ministerial session on family planning and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event was hosted by the Population Association of Pakistan on November 25-26, 2016.

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