Henry Wasswa’s FP insight journey began while participating in a Learning Circles cohort, where he was first introduced to the knowledge exchange platform. It’s designed for family planning and reproductive health professionals like him to find, share, and organize resources for their work.
“I was eager and enthusiastic to discover what FP insight was all about,” says Wasswa, a health systems strengthening program officer for Amref Health Africa.
FP insight, first launched in 2021 by the CCP-led Knowledge SUCCESS project (in which Amref is a partner), was designed to equalize knowledge sharing among family planning professionals around the world. The platform, inspired by social media and bookmarking platforms like Pinterest and Pocket, provides an easy-to-use space to access and curate family planning and reproductive health knowledge in a way that is relevant to their specific needs, rather than relying on non-local experts to curate knowledge for them and the broader community.
Recognizing the potential of the platform, Wasswa saw an opportunity to use FP insight as a tool to bridge the gap in documenting and sharing best practices with his colleagues and his broader professional network. In March 2023, Wasswa joined the inaugural cohort of the FP insight ambassador program—a strategic initiative that engaged eight family planning and reproductive health professionals from across Africa and Asia. The program partnered with these professionals to champion the use of the FP insight platform within their networks, with the ultimate goal of strengthening global knowledge sharing.
What will you find on FP insight? Explore collections from FP insight members:
Since its inception, family planning and reproductive health professionals like Wasswa have shared how FP insight has proven invaluable to their knowledge management needs, offering a way to save resources and find inspiration for their work.
The platform has also served as an integral tool for key communities in the family planning space, including the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) session organizers who used FP insight to share more than 150 resources from the global conference. Organizations and communities of practice like the IBP Network and the IGWG GBV task force also use FP insight as a communication hub for their members and beyond.
In the platform’s first two years, FP insight has grown into a community of more than 1,500 members, who have shared more than 4,500 cross-cutting family planning resources on topics such as youth engagement, gender-based violence prevention, digital health, and more. Notably, 47 percent of FP insight users surveyed reported they discovered information on the platform that they later applied to their work.
“It’s one place for all of my favorite resources — and you can curate your own collections so that it’s easier to come back to the information you need, when you need it,” said one user from South Sudan.
For busy professionals, FP insight can be a tool that saves valuable time that might otherwise be spent searching for resources. With translation features and a mobile-friendly design, Wasswa says “FP insight is easy to access,” helps him “discover new ideas to pilot in his programming,” and “quickly find information on trending themes in SRHR [sexual and reproductive health], such as AI, human-centered design, and climate change.”
And at the heart of this community are Wasswa and his ambassador program colleagues. During the inaugural cohort of the 10-month program, the FP insight ambassadors underwent extensive training, emerging as platform experts who are helping grow engagement on the platform, training and onboarding more than 100 new FP insight members in their first few months.
“I’m proud to associate with this team,” Wasswa says. “It’s one way we can inspire others and showcase the impactful work we are doing in the communities.”
And for Wasswa, FP insight has also supported his own professional development. Having recently started his role at Amref Health Africa, Wasswa says he is working to popularize the tool among his colleagues.
“It makes me unique despite being new in the organization, as I can connect with others by showcasing FP insight as part of the innovations available to support knowledge management,” he says.
As the platform continues to grow, so does its impact.
“We know that when more users regularly engage on FP insight, the benefit of the platform grows for everyone,” says CCP’s Ruwaida Salem, who manages FP insight. “That’s why we’re continuing to invest in our platform champions like Henry.”
In 2024, FP insight is planning global competitions to enhance use of the platform among both Anglophone and Francophone family planning professionals.
“We want to make sure to keep FP insight relevant, useful, and engaging, and to support the important work of family planning and reproductive health professionals around the world,” she says.
Are you interested in learning more? Explore and join the platform today at www.fpinsight.org. Do you want an even deeper dive into FP insight? Sign-up for an interactive FP insight training to learn how you and your colleagues can use the platform to enhance your work.
