Policy Advocacy Initiative to Enhance Youth Contraceptive Continuation

In many countries, youth ages 15 to 24 years have higher rates of contraceptive discontinuation than older women. Youth may be particularly sensitive to side effects and face significant barriers to accessing quality family planning care, including provider bias. Policies that support high-quality counseling, active follow up mechanisms between appointments, and access to the full complement of contraceptive methods are best practices for sustaining youth contraceptive use.

As countries work to ensure women and couples are able to choose whether, when, and how often to have children, it is critical to examine the drivers of contraceptive discontinuation that may inhibit young people from achieving their reproductive intentions. Available in both French and English, the Best Practices for Sustaining Youth Contraceptive Use policy brief and accompanying presentation explore the unique patterns and drivers of contraceptive discontinuation among youth based on new analysis of Demographic and Health Survey and Service Provision Assessment data. The products also outline policy and program strategies to address obstacles to contraceptive continuation among young women who wish to prevent, delay, or space pregnancies. 

Through this project, support will be offered to SERAC-Bangladesh by Population Reference Bureau (PRB) to strengthen advocacy objectives and strategies and demonstrated capacities to work with high-level stakeholders—that can effectively and strategically utilize the Best Practices for Sustaining Youth Contraceptive Use presentation in their advocacy efforts.  

Timeline

September – December, 2021. 

Project Location: National

Planned activities

  1. Organize a preparatory youth pre-consultation for presenting and disseminating the current situation of contraceptive discontinuation among adolescents and youth and develop a call to action with their recommendations which will be presented at the Bangladesh 6th National Youth Conference of Family Planning 2021.
  2. Sensitize the DGFP, and other policy stakeholders to make a policy commitment  showcasing the presentation and sharing the policy brief at the opening plenary session of BNYCFP2021. 
  3. To organize a designated policy dialogue session with multi-sectoral family planning stakeholders including the National Health and Family Planning Youth Advisory Group hosted by SERAC-Bangladesh, manufacturers, national and international NGOs, UN agencies, and mass media focusing the cause, policy brief and presentation at the BNYCFP2021.
  4. Follow up e-meeting with DGFP and FP stakeholders checking in progress on the call to action.

Project Updates