Family Planning Partnerships

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) leverages the comparative advantages of its public and private partners to accelerate development and ensure the efficient use of resources. USAID’s partnerships promote access to voluntary family planning programs and improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

Image of mother and child.

Family Planning 2020

As a founding partner of Family Planning 2020 (FP2020), USAID supports the partnership’s goal to reach 120 million more women and girls in the world’s poorest countries with access to voluntary family planning information, contraceptives and services by 2020. Launched at the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, FP2020 has generated unprecedented political will and financial support to reduce unmet need for contraception.

Image of health worker and a woman.

Ouagadougou Partnership

USAID is a founding member of the Ouagadougou Partnership, a joint effort between USAID, the governments of eight francophone West African countries and other international development organizations. The Ouagadougou Partnership promotes the integration of family planning and reproductive health programs into national development plans in West Africa, a region with high rates of fertility and unmet need for contraception. USAID is working through the Ouagadougou Partnership to reach an additional 1 million women with family planning information and services by 2015.

Photo of three with women with supplies on their head.

Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition

As a member of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC), USAID collaborates with other public, private and non-governmental organizations to ensure that people living in low- and middle-income countries have access to high quality reproductive health supplies. The coalition works to reduce supply stock-outs, assist governments in achieving their reproductive health goals and improve the market for contraceptive supplies. In recent years, USAID has worked with the RHSC and pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Bayer and Pfizer to lower drug prices for several high-demand contraceptives.

Photo of a Panel at the UNGA Summit

Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health

In 2010, USAID, the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health. The alliance’s goal is to accelerate progress in achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, which focus on improving reproductive, maternal and child health outcomes. The alliance aims to avert unintended pregnancies and reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting cost-effective use of resources, filling funding gaps, reducing duplication of programs and sharing best practices among partners.

Photo of a woman holding her child

USAID-UNFPA Collaboration

USAID and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) share a long and rich history as leaders in advancing women’s reproductive health and rights, including family planning. In July 2013, USAID and UNFPA initiated new efforts to collaborate and capitalize on each organization’s comparative advantages. The USAID-UNFPA collaboration is focused in six thematic areas in family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) at the global and country levels: gender; population and development data; youth; total market approach; commodity security; and high-impact practices.

Public-Private Partnerships

USAID recognizes the importance of partnering with the private sector to expand access to voluntary family planning information and services. A few examples of our public-private partnerships include:

Photo of a girl.

Innovations in Contraceptive Technologies

USAID is engaging in a public-private partnership with DFID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pfizer and PATH to support the pilot introduction of Sayana® Press , a new contraceptive packaged in an innovative pre-filled single-use syringe. The proposed contraceptive’s unique delivery system makes it more portable and easier to use than other options, allowing injections to be delivered by health care workers to women at home or in other convenient settings. This has the potential to drastically expand the availability of injectable contraceptives in the hardest-to-reach areas.

Mother Nasra Ally and child are waiting outside a clinic in the Northern Zonal Area of Tanzania’s Dar es Salam

Strengthening Supply Chains

Working with The Coca-Cola Company and other partners, USAID supports Project Last Mile, a partnership that improves delivery of medical supplies, including contraceptives, in hard-to-reach African communities. Project Last Mile leverages Coca-Cola’s logistic, supply chain, distribution and marketing expertise to help African governments maximize the ability to get critical medicines and medical supplies the “last mile” to remote areas. Project Last Mile partners include USAID, The Coca-Cola Company, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP), the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Yale Global Health Leadership Institute, and Global Environment and Technology Foundation.

Photo of Implanon

Price Reductions

USAID, the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID and others worked with Bayer and Merck to lower the prices of Jadelle® and Implanon®, both contraceptive implants, by half. In FY13, this saved USAID $6 million that was invested back into family planning programs so more women could have access to the contraceptive of their choice.