Target 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls on countries “by 2030, to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.” Living up to the commitment of the international community to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2030 requires the monitoring of key family planning indicators. Pakistan is a member of the FP2030 consortium and its goal is to accelerate the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) to 55% in 2030.

According to the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey, percent of women with satisfied demand for family planning is only 9% and Pakistan needs to take rigorous measures to raise its 35% CPR, which has remained stagnant since 2012. By the end of 2030, Pakistan envisions a society where women and girls are empowered and all couples enjoy basic rights to decide the number of their children freely and responsibly by maintaining a balance (tawazun) between their family size and resources, make informed choices to achieve a prosperous, healthy, and educated society.

In July 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took a suo moto on an alarmingly increasing population and requested for recommendations to increase its CPR by 50% and promote a total fertility rate of 2.8 children by 2025. The committee presented eight recommendations, and they were sent to the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

Of the eight thematic areas or recommendations of the CCI, three directly related to family planning:

• Universal access to reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP)
• Contraceptive commodities security
• Advocacy and communications to promote universal access to RH/FP

In 2020, UNFPA, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (M/o NHSRC) and Population Council published a national narrative for RH/RP, which proposes three inter-linked principles:

1. Rights: The national narrative recognizes that every citizen of Pakistan has fundamental rights to shelter, nutrition, health, education, family planning, employment opportunities and profitable livelihoods to improve their quality of life.
2. Responsibilities: The second principle recognizes every individual of Pakistan is responsible for its prosperity and everyone represents the country. To attain the rights mentioned above, every individual, parents and the State has responsibilities to fulfil. Parents are responsible to bear the number of children they can provide with basic rights and necessities of life. The State is responsible for providing necessary services and resources for an individual to live life in a better way.
3. Balance – Tawazun: The third principle is the most crucial for a Family Planning champion and you must advocate for this principle. It recognizes the need to strike a balance, or tawazun, in all aspects, especially between rights and responsibilities. This implies a tawazun between population growth and available resources and regenerative capacity. “Tawazun” is intrinsic in nature and commanded in Islam and other faiths as a prerequisite for peace and well-being.

Another useful document for FP champions to familiarize themselves with is the National Health Vision of Pakistan, 2016-2025. It includes key messages and commitments related to packaging health services, essential medicines and technology and cross-sectoral linkages, which are all important in achieving the CPR goal of the government.

• As you develop your strategy with the Advocacy Working Group/Technical Working Group, include activities geared toward family planning champions, such as community events or orientation meetings.
• Convene a series of meetings to address community concerns and provide additional training. You can start broadly by meeting with your group of identified champions. Then, narrow your focus once you identify different groups to target.
• Develop specific strategies to target problem areas and mitigate the risks simultaneously.
• Help FP champions to identify channels and opportunities for them to deliver their FP messages, such as electronically as well as in print media, seminars, conferences, symposiums, webinars and meetings with different stakeholders.
• Try to continue to engage the champions at least once a monthly or bi-monthly basis by calling them into your meetings, seminars, etc. This helps in motivating them and ensuring continued momentum.

Recognition in the form of incentives and rewards can play a motivational role in any progress, hence adding incentives and recognizing someone’s effort can lead them in a positive direction and fulfill the activities set out in the action plan.

• Put in place cost-effective, sustainable rewards to motivate champions to continue volunteering their time. Depending on your budget, you can add t-shirts, diaries, pens, candles, coasters and placards as incentives. You could also provide nicely printed information packets with targeted messages and tips on how to deliver those messages to their communities.
• Recognize FP champions during various forums at the community level, such as World Population Day, World Contraception Day, International Women’s Day or International Youth Day.
• Include active champions in various national and international meetings and trainings. Invite them to deliver a keynote address or to participate in a discussion forum or be interviewed by the media.

• Maintain and manage a list of identified champions (i.e., executive, political leaders,  administrators and religious leaders) in your community.
• Track capacity-building efforts among champions on accurate family planning messages.
• After you develop an action plan, hold routine meetings with champions to monitor progress and track their relevant activities.
• Track the number of events (community events, religious meetings, etc.) where family planning discussions occurred.