Agir pour la Planification Familiale

Family planning transforms the lives of women and their families and is critical to social and economic development. However, in much of West Africa, the need for family planning outweighs access to and use of contraceptives. The modern contraceptive prevalence rate ranges from 14–34% in urban areas of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger, and Togo, while unmet need there ranges from 21–35%.

A number of factors contribute to unmet need, including a lack of trained health care providers, inconsistent availability of contraceptive supplies, and structural flaws in existing health care systems. Additionally, prohibitive government policies and gender and cultural barriers serve as further obstacles for accessing high-quality care.

To address these gaps, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/West Africa, EngenderHealth, and its partners will work together on a five-year program known as Agir pour la Planification Familiale (AgirPF), designed to expand women’s access to and use of family planning services in five West African countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger, and Togo.

By expanding access to, strengthening demand for, and improving the quality of family planning services, AgirPF will increase informed decision making about family planning and broaden voluntary use. Through our partnerships at the local and national government levels, as well as with our nongovernmental organization partners, we will provide a wide range of family planning services, including integrating family planning with maternal, neonatal, child health services, and services for youth and men.

Over its history, AgirPF has developed a number of tools that have helped to improve the operation and functioning of health facilities in the project’s targeted areas. These include several documents used to implement COPE® for Contraceptive Security in the project’s countries: an   initial evaluation form , and follow-up evaluation forms, such as  questions for the national, regional, and district level , questions for   site level , and a final evaluation form . Additionally, AgirPF has mainstreamed EngenderHealth’s site walk-through approach at many of the facilities to which we have provided technical assistance, using resources such as a set of   guidelines  for site walk-throughs (referred to as Visites guidées ),   monitoring and evaluation plans ,   suggested flipcharts , a   data collection form , and a   data analysis form .