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Photo courtesy of Holly O'Hara.

MCSP presentations from the 2018 International Conference on Family Planning now available!

Posted December 18, 2018

This year’s International Conference on Family Planning was held in Kigali, Rwanda – a fitting setting given the country’s dramatic increase in modern contraception use and decrease in births in recent years. Co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, the event brought together a range of participants – political leaders, scientists, researchers, policymakers, programs managers, and donors – with a common goal: increasing voluntary, high-quality contraception for all women.

Across 40 presentations, posters, and roundtable discussions, MCSP shared what we’ve learned works to close the contraceptive access gap for the millions of women in low-resource countries who wish to delay or prevent pregnancy. The majority of our work was presented by field staff – on addressing the unique needs of adolescents and the urban poor; reaching rural, underserved communities; expanding and strengthening the “contraceptive basket,” and more – all illuminating why family planning (FP) remains one of the best investments in public health and critical to our efforts to prevent needless maternal and child deaths.

A special treat was a booth visit from Her Royal Highness Sarah Zeid, Princess of Jordan, and USAID’s Dr. Alma Golden!

After the conference and with our FP2020 colleagues, we gathered with 100 attendees from 21 countries to witness and discuss Rwanda’s remarkable scale up of  postpartum family planning (PPFP). To see how this strategy translates on the ground, we visited several MCSP-supported sites before strategizing on how to accelerate progress through advocacy, data use, and renewed action in our respective countries and programs.

We left having developed action plans to bring us closer to our collective 2020 goals, continuing the momentum from Chiang Mai to ICFP and beyond!

Presentations

Posters

MCSP Satellite Event Presentations

Maternal and Child Survival Program