UHC contributes to an increased access to health services, lessens financial burdens to individuals and families, including the most vulnerable, and improves overall population health outcomes, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes such as improving the maternal mortality rate and decreasing the unmet need for family planning. UHC envisions a person as a whole person, with access to all the health services they need, including family planning and sexual and reproductive health (FP/RH) services. In 2019, the United Nations (UN) hosted the first UN meeting on UHC. World leaders set an ambitious and comprehensive declaration on UHC, and the agenda continues to be implemented and localized across various countries in different ways. Those working the FP/RH field have advocated for UHC initiatives at the country level that reflect the importance of family planning to UHC, with specific strategies around ensuring family planning is included in initiatives. Countries are at different points in their journeys related to UHC and ensuring family planning is incorporated. 

In June 2022, Knowledge SUCCESS, the FP2030 North America and Europe (NAE) Hub, Population Action International (PAI), and Management Sciences for Health (MSH) hosted the first in a three-part collaborative dialogue series. This three-part series included a look at theory v. reality in implementing family planning initiatives within UHC programs, different financing approaches to ensuring family planning is included in UHC, and how initiatives to include family planning can be as representative and responsive to marginalized groups including those with disabilities, people living with HIV, and LGBTQIA populations.  

Building on these collaborative dialogues, Knowledge SUCCESS, FP2030 NAE Hub, PAI, and MSH have hosted three regional dialogues. These dialogues were hosted in partnership with FP2030’s other regional hubs. We hosted the first dialogue in partnership with the East and Southern Africa (ESA) Hub in May 2023. We hosted the second dialogue in partnership with the North, West, and Central Africa (NWCA) Hub in July 2023, and we hosted the third dialogue in partnership with the Asia and the Pacific Hub in December 2023. 

Below is a synthesis of these three regional dialogues, highlighting similar and different best practices and lessons learned across the regions.

Best Practices & Lessons Learned: 

For Those Working to Ensure Family Planning Integration in UHC

Engage Stakeholders Across Sectors

Engage partners across sectors, including government, civil society, healthcare workers, and communities to ensure high level and diverse commitment to incorporating family planning in UHC. Family planning inclusion in UHC needs to address not only the availability of commodities, but also the quality and availability of services.

Ensure Comprehensive Financing

Diverse funding sources are effective and often necessary. These include national government health budgets and private sectors.

Focus on Economic Benefits

Focusing on the economic benefit of family planning as well as the demographic dividend can be useful for stakeholders to see its relevance to UHC.

Consider pilot programs of innovative financing schemes to demonstrate whether they are effective or not in financing family planning in UHC.

Generate Evidence

The evidence base for family planning inclusion in UHC is deep, but that does not mean that there isn’t more to learn. Consider efforts to support new research and ongoing research led by various stakeholders including civil society organizations (CSOs).

Hold Stakeholders Accountable

Civil society has a role in ensuring advocacy efforts are happening and effective, as well as holding governments accountable in providing family planning as a part of UHC. 

CSOs can also provide support to government efforts to train health professionals in family planning delivery, collect and manage data, and engage in commodity forecasting.

Include Young People

Ensuring that family planning is included in UHC is only fully effective when it includes young people, but opposition to young people’s use of contraception exists. 

• Advocacy efforts should normalize family planning for young people by framing it not only as contraceptive use but life planning. 
• Technical working groups, meetings, and coordination of family planning stakeholders should include youth-led organizations and youth leaders. 
• Storytelling is often effective in getting decision-makers to respond to advocacy efforts related to young people and family planning. Advocacy efforts should recognize that youth can tell their own stories.

Utilize Adaptive Advocacy Approaches

Advocacy efforts should:

• • Consider which tactics are appropriate in different contexts. This includes utilizing marching and protests, but also setting up meetings with decision-makers. 
  • Understand how government decisions are made is key to influencing decision-making at different points. 
  • Build relationships and networking with key stakeholders help strengthen advocacy efforts.

Leverage Technology  

Technology offers avenues to ensure availability of commodities and services, as well as facilitate data collection and processing. 

• Explore ways hard-to-reach populations with telehealth services, provide access points to commodities that are outside of traditional health centers, and streamline medical records and data collection and management for easy, real-time monitoring of commodities and program implementation.

Speakers involved in the UHC dialogues across the three regions emphasized that efforts to include family planning in UHC must be adaptable, innovative, and resilient. 

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