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Advocacy for Change_brief |
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Advocacy for Change:
Repositioning Family Planning, Promoting Birth Spacing
The Advocacy for Change project, implemented by Population Foundation of India (PFI) is supported by the David and
Lucile Packard Foundation. The project commenced in October 2011 and will continue till September 2014. It will
advocate for much needed change in India's policies and programs related to family planning (FP). The project flows
out of PFl's long-term strategic commitment to repositioning family planning (FP) within a women's empowerment and
human rights framework.
The Need:
India's population, as per the 2011 Census, is 1.21 billion.' Its total fertility rate in 2010 was 2.5.2 India's growing
population continues to be a major cause for concern among policy makers and in civil society. However, there is
considerable misunderstanding about the nature of the population 'problem' and what needs to be done to achieve rapid
population stabilization. In a country where a quarter of the population are adolescents and close to half the women are
in the reproductive age group, some facts that need to be considered are:
• Almost half of all women aged 20-24 are married by the age of 18 years.
• Child bearing is initiated early and multiple pregnancies characterize the life of many young women.
• One in every five women aged 20-24 had her first baby before she was 18 years of age, and one in eight young
women had three children.
• The unmet need for spacing is also high in the age group of 20-24 years. The total unmet need for contraceptives
among this group is 21 percent. Of this, unmet need for spacing is 15 percent and for limiting it is 6 percent as per
NFHS-3, 2005-06.
As a result, both maternal and neonatal mortality, are higher among the young compared to older women. Further,
population momentum, owing to the large base of young people in the country, is estimated to contribute to 70 percent
of the population growth.
Clearly, rapid population stabilization requires that national and state family planning programs shift focus from
sterilization for high parity couples, to addressing fertility in young couples- promoting spacing children and delaying first
births. When family planning programs focus on young couples, addressing them even before they begin child bearing,
many social benefits accrue. When families make informed choices regarding the timing, spacing and number of their
children, poverty is alleviated, women are empowered, the quality of life of families is improved, maternal and infant
deaths are reduced, and children have a better chance of nutrition, growth, development and education.
Advocacy for Change will collaborate with the national and state governments to promote change in the understanding
and focus of family planning programs in India.
I Office or the Iteglstrar General, Government or IndIa.
2 Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2010
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The Change:
Advocacy for Change aims to reposition family planning at the national level and in the state of Bihar, so that every
family is a planned family and every child a wanted, healthy child. The Project will advocate for policy and program
improvements in three specific areas: (i) delaying age at first pregnancy, (ii) promoting spacing between births, and (iii)
improving quality of care of FP/RH programs.
In two districts of Bihar- Darbhanga and Nawada- the Project will work to make ASHAs, AWWs, ANMs, village health
sanltation and nutrition committee and PRI members 'Advocates for Change' at the village, gram panchayat, block and
district levels. They will be empowered to bring about change in social norms related to early and high fertility, and in
delaying age at first pregnancy, increasing the space between births, and improving the quality of FP/RH services.
It is expected that these advocacy efforts would result in increased public dialogue on the need to reposition family
planning at the national, state, and community levels. It is also envisaged that developing or modifying relevant policies
at the national and state level will lead to better and more efficient service provision, more effective implementation of
programs at the community level. It will enable families and individuals, women in particular, to take control of decision
making around their health. Collectively all of this will lead to healthier families and a move towards a healthier nation
with every pregnancy having a positive outcome and every baby being wanted and healthy.
The ApJlroach:
The advocacy work of the project will be informed by a review of international best practices and innovations that have
demonstrated results in the areas of delaying, spacing, improving the quality of services, expanding the basket of
choice, and efforts to reposition family planning as a central intervention in maternal and child health (MCH) programs.
Using the findings of this review, PFI will work with the government to identify gaps in policy and programs and to find
ways of bridging them.
The project will work closely with the state health system in Bihar to implement in Darbhanga and Nawada, MCH
programs that demonstrate the effective use of FP as a key intervention that achieves delaying and spacing of births,
and an improved quality of care in FP services. The findings and learning of these demonstration programs will further
strengthen state level advocacy to reposition FP in Bihar.
About PFI:
Population Foundation of India (PFI) is a national non-governmental organization, established in 1970 by a group of
socially committed industrialists led by the late Mr JRD Tata and Dr Bharat Ram. PFI is dedicated to promoting and
advocating for effective formulation and implementation of gender sensitive population and development policies,
strategies, and programs.
A Collaborative Effort:
PFI would like to make Advocacy for Change a collaborative effort with the active involvement of the government and
other stakeholders, and request for continuous engagement in the program.
Population Foundation of India
B- 28, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110016
Phone No.: +91-11-43894100; Website: www.populationfoundation.in
123 A, Patliputra Colony, Patna -13, Bihar; Phone No.: +91 6122270634