Recorded presentation

Imelda Feranil, MA and Danielle Grant, MA. POLICY Project, 1050 17th Street, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036, 202-775-9680, i.feranil@tfgi.com

Scarce domestic resources and declining donor funding have raised concerns about support for family planning in developing countries. Decentralization has compounded the issue. Local leaders are left to decide how limited resources are used to address numerous development needs like high poverty, poor health status, and low education. Family planning is often given low priority, despite its potentials for improving maternal and child health, economic productivity, and family well-being. Clearly, local groups need to advocate for contraceptive security to ensure access to family planning, especially among the most vulnerable.

While advocacy groups are active in various countries, there is a need to develop advocacy tools specifically for contraceptive security. This paper assesses a focused intervention that involves technical assistance and training using a Contraceptive Security advocacy tool kit that includes an advocacy training manual, policy analysis tools contraceptive security research, and advocacy success storie. The study area is Peru, where the POLICY Project has assisted the Red Nacional por la Promocion de Mujer (RNPM or the National Network for the Promotion of Women) to form and strengthen 24 departmental/provincial branches to advocate for women’s issues under decentralization. The assessment describes how the advocacy toolkit was used by the RNPM to: a) develop and implement advocacy strategies to ensure that family planning is prioritized and funded by local decision-making structures, b) raise community awareness about and support for family planning benefits and contraceptive security issues, particularly focusing subsidized resources to the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe the socioeconomic and political context in which advocacy for contraceptive security was undertaken by local advocates in Peru
• To explain how an advocacy tool was used by local advocates to plan and implement their advocacy campaign for contraceptive security
• To identify at least 3 actions made by local advocates to promote contraceptive security to local leaders and community groups.

Keywords: Advocacy, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation