Malawi

Comprehensive Coordination and Planning for Family Planning

Development and rollout of Guidelines for Family Planning Communication

C-Change provided technical support for development of the Government of Malawi’s Guidelines for Family Planning Communication.The guidelines were developed in a participatory process by the Task Force on Family Planning Communication, led by Malawi’s Health Education Unit (HEU). The publication provides the framework for family planning communication programs in the country and supports the objective of the National Reproductive Health Strategy: to promote through informed choice, safer reproductive health practices by men, women, and young people, including increased use of high quality, accessible reproductive health services. C-Change completed these activties in Malawi in August 2011.

Building SBCC capacity of Malawi’s Ministry of Health's Health Education Unit (HEU)

C-Change partnered with the Health Education Unit (HEU) of Malawi’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide tools and build capacity to better coordinate planning and implementation of family planning communication programming in Malawi. The goal is to better utilize family planning communication resources and to leverage existing resources around common communication goals.

C-Change worked with the HEU to set up the Task Force on Family Planning Communication, which included key stakeholders in family planning communication in Malawi. Two working groups were formed under this Task Force--one to oversee the development of Guidelines for Family Planning Communication and another to review existing family planning communication materials to support the Guidelines. 

Following pre-tests in selected districts, the MOH finalized the Guidelines. C-Change assisted the HEU with rollout at zonal and district levels, culminating in eventual rollout throughout Malawi. Complementing this effort is the review and updating of existing family planning materials with printing and distribution to the districts supported by USAID and UNFPA.

C-Change assisted the HEU during the rollout workshops to the district health management team members in Spring 2011, providing an overview of SBCC using the C-Modules. These interventions are strengthening the capacity of HEU's staff throughout the country to sustainably apply SBCC to their planning and programming efforts in family planning.