Family Planning in Asia and the Pacific - International Council on ...

that countries needed to develop strong situationanalysis skills not only to determ<strong>in</strong>e <strong>the</strong> “what” but also<strong>the</strong> “why”. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, present<strong>in</strong>g a strong strategy for SRH<strong>and</strong> RH commodities that <strong>in</strong>cluded costed packages of<strong>in</strong>tervention would play an important role <strong>in</strong> secur<strong>in</strong>gfund<strong>in</strong>g.Discussion po<strong>in</strong>tsQuestions/issues:Questions were raised on what percentage of fund<strong>in</strong>gfor national programmes was com<strong>in</strong>g from donors? Itseemed as if dependence on donors was chang<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong>per capita expenditure on health was com<strong>in</strong>g more fromnational budgets than had previously been <strong>the</strong> case.Response:The session focused on donors as one part of <strong>the</strong>fund<strong>in</strong>g spectrum. It was true that governments weretak<strong>in</strong>g a larger role <strong>in</strong> fund<strong>in</strong>g national family plann<strong>in</strong>gprogrammes, which was good for susta<strong>in</strong>ability.Questions/issues:The Philipp<strong>in</strong>es used scorecards for accountabilitypurposes: all stakeholders <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> process used a donorscorecard to measure how well <strong>the</strong>y were abid<strong>in</strong>g by <strong>the</strong>Paris declaration <strong>and</strong> how donors provided assistance.Response:The World Bank positioned its work with <strong>the</strong> Secretary-General of <strong>the</strong> United Nations Global Strategy forWomen’s <strong>and</strong> Children’s Health, which <strong>in</strong>cluded 49countries, 25 of which had already made commitments.The strategy could be viewed as a global accountabilitymechanism. The World Bank worked to ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> itself asaccountable on country <strong>and</strong> global levels. Accountabilityrema<strong>in</strong>ed a challenge. Many were good at announc<strong>in</strong>gfund<strong>in</strong>g but not always so good <strong>in</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g up on <strong>the</strong>delivery of funds.Response:USAID also supported <strong>the</strong> development of strategies<strong>and</strong> was look<strong>in</strong>g at ways to improve capacity. Therewere challenges to be<strong>in</strong>g able to regulate <strong>and</strong> direct <strong>the</strong>public sector. The use of a score card was an <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>gsystem.Papua New Gu<strong>in</strong>ea currently had one of <strong>the</strong> worstMMR trends <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world. How could <strong>the</strong> country dealwith that strategically?Response:AusAID supported countries <strong>in</strong> strategically address<strong>in</strong>g<strong>the</strong>ir challenges. Examples of such assistance <strong>in</strong>cluded<strong>the</strong> support allocated for draft<strong>in</strong>g national strategies<strong>and</strong> work<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> area of strategic plann<strong>in</strong>g. TheGovernment of Australia was committed to support<strong>in</strong>gPapua New Gu<strong>in</strong>ea to keep its commitments. Therewere also funds for UNFPA to convene a parliamentaryhear<strong>in</strong>g on family plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> that country.Response:NZAID recognized that Papua New Gu<strong>in</strong>ea hadadopted good policies <strong>and</strong> had <strong>the</strong> needed data to<strong>in</strong>itiate a programme. It was important to enter <strong>in</strong>topolicy dialogue on a central level.Response:Countries were encouraged to take ownership, workwith different sectors <strong>and</strong> m<strong>in</strong>istries; for <strong>in</strong>stance,ensur<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>the</strong> M<strong>in</strong>istry of F<strong>in</strong>ance was <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong>public health plann<strong>in</strong>g processes.SESSION 4: Address<strong>in</strong>g<strong>the</strong> chalengges to qualityof care <strong>in</strong> family plann<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> focus<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong>needs of special groupsInequities <strong>in</strong> access<strong>in</strong>g family plann<strong>in</strong>g services <strong>in</strong><strong>the</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>n <strong>and</strong> <strong>Pacific</strong> region by Ms. Sujatha Ram,Monitor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> Evaluation Resident Advisor, MeasureEvaluation, ICF Macro)The presentation focused on f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> analysis fromDemographic <strong>and</strong> Health Surveys (DHS) that hadbeen conducted <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> region. DHS was a nationallyrepresentative household survey that provided dataon population, health <strong>and</strong> nutrition. It used st<strong>and</strong>ardsurvey protocol, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g questionnaires <strong>and</strong> sampl<strong>in</strong>gmethods, as well as extra modules on specific topics.DHS was cross-sectional <strong>and</strong> took snapshots of <strong>the</strong>situation. Local statistical agencies carried out DHS.Key similarities across <strong>the</strong> region <strong>in</strong>cluded significantlevels of unmet need, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a large percentage ofunmet need among youth. Also, knowledge of at least onemethod was high. The majority of married women usedmodern methods compared with traditional methods(<strong>the</strong> adolescent group used <strong>the</strong> lowest percentage ofmodern methods). The method mix varied by country<strong>and</strong> depended on access to services. Also, while <strong>the</strong> levelsof unmet need varied by country, generally rural areashad more unmet need than urban areas. The lowestwealth qu<strong>in</strong>tiles had higher unmet need compared with<strong>the</strong> highest wealth qu<strong>in</strong>tiles. The youngest marriedwomen had <strong>the</strong> highest unmet need.29