Advance Family Planning

In 2012, the global community committed to expanding family planning access to an additional 120 million women and girls by 2020, launching the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) partnership.

Advance Family Planning II (AFP) is working to achieve the FP2020 goal by providing decision-makers with evidence that family planning is a sound investment for individuals, communities and a nation’s future, and that access to family planning is a fundamental part of universal health care.

AFP works with political leaders, funders, researchers, service providers and religious leaders, advocating for the national and local policy and funding changes necessary to advance family planning access and choices, ultimately accelerating momentum to the 2020 goal.

AFP works in 10 countries and the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs leads efforts in two of them: Indonesia and Tanzania.

In Indonesia, nearly 62 percent of married women use contraceptives, and the government is strongly committed to family planning. Together, these factors have helped to improve economic growth and reduce poverty in the country of 250 million people. However, progress has stagnated in recent years and AFP works with all levels of government to ensure continued advancements.

In Tanzania, more than 70 percent of its nearly 51 million people live in rural areas. CCP partners with Health Promotion Tanzania and the Tanzania Communication and Development Center to engage in policy, budget and media advocacy for sustained family planning funding and access to quality reproductive healthcare in the most challenged areas of the country. Much of the work focuses on youth access to family planning.

Recent accomplishments include:

• Thanks to the work of AFP, the Tanzanian government has demonstrated strong support for maternal and child health by nearly tripling the annual family planning budget–– from 5 billion Tanzanian shillings (about $2.2 million U.S. dollars) in the 2016-17 budget to 37 billion Tanzanian shillings (about $16.2 million) in the 2017-18 budget.
• Indonesia’s National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) formally adopted AFP’s approach to family planning advocacy and has integrated it into their national communication and advocacy strategy.
• AFP has worked to address policy barriers to the implementation of a new universal health insurance program in Indonesia, and to help prioritize family planning in village budgets.