Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Laura Hoemeke, MPH, Twubakane Project, IntraHealth International, PO Box 4585, Kigali, Rwanda, 250-504-055, lhoemeke@intrahealth.org

Rwanda's population of 8.3 million is one of the most densely concentrated in Africa. Although some experts speculate that extremely high population density was a contributing factor to the country's civil war and resulting genocide in 1994, a pronatalist culture, religious opposition and little government support made advances in family planning even more challenging in the years immediately following the conflict. While contraceptive prevalence increased from 4% in 2000 to 10% in 2005, Rwanda has not yet returned to pre-genocide rates (close to 15%) and unmet need remains high--39% of women express desire to space births by at least two years. As the world's attention to HIV/AIDS has moved focus away from family planning, political support and collaboration are more necessary than ever. High-level political will and recent collaborative efforts among donors, spearheaded by the Ministry of Health with support from IntraHealth International and the USAID-funded Twubakane Project, are pointing to the successful repositioning of family planning as a human right in post-genocide Rwanda. A working group has collaborated to implement a national family planning program, including advocacy, contraceptive security, quality of services and behavior change communication initiatives. The advocacy initiative is culminating in a national debate on family planning, to be presided over by President Paul Kagame in March 2006. This presentation will focus on the results of that debate, additional advocacy activities at the district and community levels, and family planning trainings and outreach activities designed to dispel rumors and promote the health benefits of family planning.

Learning Objectives:

• • Articulate challenges of promoting family planning in a post-genocide situation
• • Describe the importance of high-level political advocacy for repositioning family planning
• • Discuss development partner collaboration to support family planning, particularly in countries in which reproductive health resources are limited in comparison to HIV/AIDS funding

Keywords: Family Planning, Advocacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation