Resources for Family Planning & Health Care

Europe

UK

• Brook "Your free & confidential sexual health & wellbeing experts"

Oceana

Australia

Tasmania

• Pregnancy Choices Tasmania "can connect Tasmanians to their local sexual and reproductive health care services, including pharmacists, GPs, hospitals, private specialists, radiologists and counsellors."

Ensuring Gender Equality 

This includes equal pay and access to work despite gender identity or sexuality. It also ensures that men and gay couples will be able to take time off with their newborns and adoptive children in the first months of life without worrying that they will also lose their jobs. 

People who are given the legal right to make informed decisions about family planning can choose to hold off on parenting until they have a more stable living situation, while people who are forced to give birth despite known dangers or complications are at an increased risk of being murdered, committing suicide, or dying from preventable child-birth/pregnancy related issues. This is particularly problematic because then people who already have kids leave orphans, while those who would have chosen to have babies later in life instead end up dying due to lack of health care access.

Maintaining Housing Affordability

This helps people feel safe enough to start families or expand their existing families. People living on the street realize that their children are at increased risk of bullying, becoming victims of crime, and life-long trauma. The simple act of enrolling children into school can be difficult to impossible in some places, depending on a person's housing situation. Some countries won't allow people to access benefits like health care or food stamps unless they have some form of permanent residence, which cannot include a homeless shelter. In addition, homeless shelters can be quite dangerous for both adults and children.

Ensuring Job Security 

This is vital for people to feel safe enough to start or expand their families. Without adequate jobs, parents struggle to provide food, warm homes, clean clothing, and basic school supplies or tuition. Parents with little to no job opportunities may also worry that any children they have will also struggle to find employment and care for themselves.

Organizations

International

• Pathfinder "218 million women and girls don’t have a choice about pregnancy. Your support gives women and girls access to empowerment programs and reproductive health care that saves lives and gives the power to choose their own future."

Africa

• Pathfinder "218 million women and girls don’t have a choice about pregnancy. Your support gives women and girls access to empowerment programs and reproductive health care that saves lives and gives the power to choose their own future."

Burkina Faso

• Pathfinder "works with local partners, including the ministry of health, to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care in an increasingly fragile context, affected by worsening security conditions, and the impacts of climate change and humanitarian crises. Our programs support access to contraception; comprehensive abortion care; and services for maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. Together with our partners, we ensure women and young people can access the care they need from community-based services and in public and private health facilities." 

Burundi

• Pathfinder "works in Burundi to respond to local health needs by strengthening the health system to offer quality, integrated health care that advances sexual and reproductive health and rights. Operating in a post-conflict environment, our programs improve health system resilience to shocks and stressors. Our diverse expertise support women and girls and Burundi to access quality health care and the financial resources they need to care for themselves and their families. Our high-impact maternal and child health interventions reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality. And our integrated programs broaden contraceptive choice; expand access to emergency obstetric care; and support home-based care for malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia. We work with our local partners to develop platforms for women-led and youth-led climate resilience and reproductive health solutions, and community dialogue for social and behavior change." 

Côte d’Ivoire 

• Pathfinder "works with local partners in Côte d’Ivoire to strengthen access to and use of quality contraceptive services, advance the right to abortion, and promote free postpartum and immediate post-abortion contraception. We implement a variety of programs with and for women and girls and engage men and boys in family planning as supportive partners and agents of social and behavior change."

Democratic Republic of the Congo 

• Pathfinder "works with local partners to provide accessible, quality reproductive health services to millions of people—offering women and adolescent girls the support they need to protect their health and their futures. Pathfinder expands access to contraceptive services, advocates for safe and quality abortion care, improves maternal and newborn health, and supports gender-based violence prevention and support services. Our programs engage local communities to change harmful gender norms, train health providers to offer quality care, and promote inclusive, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. 

Our programs engage local communities to change harmful gender norms, train health providers to offer quality care, and promote inclusive, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services."

Egypt

• Pathfinder "is increasing women’s and men’s access to high quality family planning information, counseling, contraceptive methods, and services delivered by competent providers; enabling young people to mature into healthy adults by increasing their knowledge of reproductive health; and empowering women, men, and couples to achieve power-balanced family relationships.  

Pathfinder believes every individual should have the ability to take control of their health and future. In Egypt, we’re making sure they can. For nearly 40 years, we’ve partnered with the government to bring contraception to the doorsteps of Egypt’s hard-to-reach communities. Today, we’re building on this legacy—upholding the rights of young Egyptians, so they can choose their own paths forward."

Ethiopia

• Pathfinder "works to ensure that all Ethiopians have the ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights. Pathfinder has a long history of partnering with the government to bring quality health care services to millions of people in urgent need. Across the country, Pathfinder has worked to strengthen health infrastructure, train and mentor the health workforce, and ensure that all people get the care they need, including maternal and newborn care, cervical cancer screenings and prevention, and reproductive health care. 

Pathfinder designs and leads high impact interventions encompassing contraception, adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights , comprehensive abortion care, obstetric fistula, cervical cancer prevention, maternal and newborn health, social and behavior change, girls’ empowerment, and gender."

Kenya

• Pathfinder's "rich history in Kenya is marked by our conviction of going where others will not and responding to the urgent reproductive health needs of some of the country’s most underserved people to ensure a country where everyone has access to contraception, there are zero new HIV infections, no woman dies from preventable pregnancy-related complications, and everyone leads a healthy sexual and reproductive life."

Mozambique

• Pathfinder "Pathfinder is working across Mozambique—in every province—to bring sexual and reproductive health care to those who need it most. Pathfinder works to strengthen the health system and workforce across the country, build a strong response to sexual and gender-based violence, and challenge restrictive policies to remove barriers to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
  
  Across Mozambique, Pathfinder provides integrated and comprehensive, right-based sexual and reproductive health and quality services while also empowering adolescents, youth, women, men, and vulnerable groups and key populations to make informed choices that are free from stigma and discrimination."

Niger

• Pathfinder "works with the Ministry of Health and local partners to strengthen health services and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights. We partner with women, men, and youth, particularly in community settings, to promote gender-equitable practices and address stigma related to contraceptive use. In addition, we engage women in building the resilience of their families and communities to climate change. 
  
  Pathfinder works closely with the Ministry of Public Health and other local partners to strengthen reproductive health services and expand contraceptive choices among women and young people in Niger. Our programs build the resilience of women to adapt to the effects of climate change. We increase men’s and boys’ knowledge of family planning and mobilize them to promote gender equity. We also ensure gender-based violence survivors can access the timely support and care they need."

Nigeria

• Pathfinder "helped establish the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria and provided the first grant in family planning to the Nigerian Ministry of Health for pilot work in northern communities. Since that date, Pathfinder has worked with the government, community-based organizations, the private sector, faith-based institutions, and communities themselves to strengthen health systems and delivery of sexual and reproductive health care. We have reached some of Nigeria’s most underserved people with reproductive health care, including first-time mothers, refugee communities, and families in rural areas."

Sierra Leone 

• Pathfinder "In Sierra Leone, FHM Engage, USAID’s flagship private sector health project, conducted a family planning (FP) market description and assessment, focusing on youth-driven demand for FP, followed by co-creation workshops with key public and private stakeholders with whom solutions to market challenges were designed.  The assessment found that only 20% of married women are using contraception, young women ages 15-24 prefer contraceptive implants, and most young women get their condoms and pills from the private sector.
  
  FHM Engage currently works with the People’s Alliance for Reproductive Health Advocacy (PARHA) and the Ministry of Health to establish Private Sector Engagement Unit, a public-private dialogue platform that will steward the youth market to increase the availability and accessibility of affordable FP products and services for youth. This platform is meant to galvanize the private sector in Sierra Leone to support family planning. Endorsed by the Ministry of Health, this approach aims to mobilize resources and strengthen family planning efforts, particularly in adolescent and youth reproductive health."

South Sudan 

• Pathfinder "Through the USAID MOMENTUM Integrated Resilience Health project, Pathfinder improves  equitable access to quality family planning (FP) services in eight counties of South Sudan. Our work in South Sudan focuses on implementing the country’s behavior change strategy, “Sawa Le Baad” (“Together for Each Other”), which  seeks to build trust, achieve gender equity, balance inequitable power dynamics, and sustain healthy behaviors. MOMENTUM also works to strengthen resilience capacities to mitigate shocks and stresses in fragile settings. 
  
  Since 2021, MOMENTUM has scaled evidence-based practices, improved service readiness, and enhanced the experience of care in 24 public and 28 private health facilities. With the South Sudan Nursing and Midwives Association, we have trained, coached, and/or mentored 206 health workers. MOMENTUM has also recruited, trained, and supported 216 Boma health workers to provide short-acting methods, including self-injection and emergency contraceptives. Social media campaigns are fostering awareness and uptake of self-care practices and methods. Through the work in South Sudan, 57,174 modern contraceptive clients were served."

Tanzania

• Pathfinder "Pathfinder has worked in Tanzania for more than six decades to improve sexual and reproductive health; boost climate resilience; improve maternal, newborn, and child health; and prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence. Pathfinder works to ensure women and girls receive quality sexual and reproductive health care, including access to quality comprehensive post-abortion care abortion services.
  
  Pathfinder’s programs across the country strengthen health systems and support community health through health worker training, use of digital technologies, and integration of conservation practices and reproductive health education."

Uganda

• Pathfinder " has been operating since the 1950s covering more than 25 districts in all regions of the country with a strong focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal, neonatal, and child health, youth integration, gender inclusion, environmental safety & climate resilience, as well as HIV&AIDS care. Pathfinder Uganda envisions a future where everyone, even in the most challenging environments, has what they need to be healthy, thrive, and live to their full potential and its interventions are anchored on the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and human rights.
  
  Today, Pathfinder Uganda leads a flagship USAID project called the Family Planning Activity which is addressing underlying social, cultural, and structural barriers to family planning access so that Ugandans can freely exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights.
  
  Across Uganda, Pathfinder is working to strengthen health systems, provide modern contraception to those who need it, and work with adolescents and youth so they can determine their futures."

Asia

• Pathfinder "218 million women and girls don’t have a choice about pregnancy. Your support gives women and girls access to empowerment programs and reproductive health care that saves lives and gives the power to choose their own future."

Bangladesh

• Pathfinder "In Bangladesh, we advance universal access to health care, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health services; promote women’s leadership and empowerment; support GBV-responsive and climate-resilient communities; and facilitate the implementation of adolescent- and youth-friendly health and wellbeing initiatives. Our community-driven, localized innovations reach marginalized and disadvantaged communities."

India

• Pathfinder "has worked in India since 1963, partnering with the government of India to bring information and services to the people who need them most. From long-acting contraception for adolescents to emergency care for pregnant women who live far away from a health facility, we go where the need is greatest.

One in eight young people in the world lives in India, and Pathfinder’s work in the country focuses on this growing population. Pathfinder has designed and delivered more than 15 innovative projects in the country within the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, and Maharashtra. Pathfinder has improved sexual and reproductive health outcomes, with a focus on vulnerable and hard to reach populations, by delivering projects aimed at averting unintended pregnancies and promoting healthy timing and spacing practices. "

Jordan

• Pathfinder "Regardless of nationality, young people living in Jordan – especially adolescent girls – face multiple challenges and barriers to accessing key health, education, economic, and social services that will set them on the pathway to a happy, healthy, productive adulthood. "

Pakistan

• Pathfinder "is a leader in scalable, sustainable solutions to quality contraceptive and reproductive health services, particularly for women and youth. Our programs have improved the quality of services offered by health providers, including helping them to overcome their biases about providing sexual and reproductive health care to youth; strengthened postpartum and post-abortion family planning services; and leveraged digital solutions to strengthen health systems. Pathfinder is known for its gender-transformative approaches—ones that engage men for maximum impact, improve the response to gender-based violence, and engage women in climate change adaptation solutions."

North America

USA

Oceana

Australia

Tasmania

• Pregnancy Choices Tasmania "can connect Tasmanians to their local sexual and reproductive health care services, including pharmacists, GPs, hospitals, private specialists, radiologists and counsellors."