Sunday, October 27, 2013

Workshop on state of family planning conducted

Staff Report

KARACHI: A workshop on the in-depth study on the state of family planning was conducted on Saturday by Pathfinder International, an international organisation working in Pakistan and reproductive health in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Officials from Population Welfare Department, Health Department as well as representatives of national and international organisations working on family planning attended the workshop. In his introductory remarks, Pathfinder Country Representative Dr Tauseef Ahmad said the study was an assessment aimed at ascertaining the state of family planning based on operations, progress made and shortcomings covering the period 2000-11.

He said several quantitative studies have done in recent past but it has missed the underlying system-wise issues which caused the sector’s poor performance. The study contains nine units that examine the role and contribution of different stakeholders.

According to the study, the targets and goals related to family planning have not been achieved due to lack of clear policies, planning, a governance mechanism and limited coordination among relevant stakeholders. It also mentioned that coverage and access was found lacking as the departments of health did not own the programme.

A complex funding flow mechanism with delayed and insufficient releases caught the programme in a vicious cycle of low performance, supply shortages and stock-out. “It is unfortunate that neither the Federal Ministry of Population Welfare nor the Planning Division evolved any strategy to remedy the issue but rather remained at dagger-drawn,” the report stated.

The advocacy and interpersonal communication remained less audience oriented and less focused, while monitoring and evaluation and research support was weak and sporadic. The report said that the devolution of the population subject to the provinces has had the mixed result of defocusing the population issue from the national perspective.

To address the challenges, the report mentioned to revitalise the Population Welfare Commission, revisit population policy 2010, rejuvenate provincial population steering committees, build ownership of family planning in departments of health and the population program by provincial governments.

It also recommended to revamp the planning process, ensure adequate allocation, improve coverage and access, overhaul monitoring and supervision system, tap the resources of public-private sector organisations and maintain commodity security and active support of all stakeholders.

Such efforts need effective backup of advocacy and promotional campaigning with an effective system of monitoring and feedback from beneficiaries. The participants of the workshop observed that political commitment was visible in the province and it would be continued to support the programme. They, however, said further awareness of parliamentarians through seminars on importance of family planning should be done so that they could effectively influence their electorate.
The importance of local bodies was also stressed particularly the involvement of female councilors

The experts opined that community-based monitoring at grass roots level is needed and the district assembly meetings should be part of the accountability process. Besides, counseling sessions should be arranged at schools, colleges and universities. They also stressed active participation of media in promoting the family planning.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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