World Contraception Day: Measuring Our Impact

By Mustafa Kudrati, VP of Programs

Early in my career, I co-founded the Kuleana Center for Children’s Rights, a non-governmental organization working in Tanzania, the country where I was born and raised. The Center worked to build understanding of, and support for, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child throughout the country, while providing direct support for homeless children and training for medical and other professionals and institutions to improve their abilities to help children referred to as “street children.” It was an incredible privilege, and today I carry with me many lessons learned in those formative years.

Since then, I have worked in a variety of areas on public and global health, including HIV/AIDS; maternal, newborn, and child health; cervical cancer; and, most recently, sexual and reproductive health, with a focus on family planning counseling and voluntary contraception. Co-leading the Kuleana Center, I learned the importance of measuring the impact of the work, putting people at the center of program metrics, and always respecting the rights and agency of every individual you work with. In the 20 years since my time with the Center came to a close, the importance of these lessons and their applicability to my work have grown, as the international development and global health sectors have focused more intently on both rights and data.

In that spirit, I am pleased to mark World Contraception Day 2019 by sharing key metrics from EngenderHealth’s 2019 fiscal year (July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019). We track a variety of different metrics to ensure we are effectively leveraging every dollar we receive to accomplish key goals, including: the number of people our programs reach with family planning counseling and services, the number of those who then select the contraceptive method of their choice, and the improved health outcomes that result from those services.

We are proud of the work we do, alongside funding partners, individual donors, national governments, local civil society organizations, community leaders, and health professionals–and on behalf of individuals living in the communities where we work–to expand information about and access to voluntary contraception. Working together, we made an incredible impact in our last fiscal year. Those results are outlined in the graphic below.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to continuing to make a difference in the lives of people, families, and communities where we work, and to continuing to share that impact in the spirit of partnership and transparency.