Correction: What interventions are effective to prevent or respond to female genital mutilation? A review of existing evidence from 2008-2020.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.

Can the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and Cairo Consensus Normalize the Discourse on Population?

The International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and its Cairo Consensus can help ensure that policy responses uphold human rights and gender equality, thereby serving as the singular global reference that could bring opposing voices in the population debate together.

How resilient were family planning programs during the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from 70 countries.

Background: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic fears of severe disruptions to family planning (FP) and access to services abounded. This paper uses a unique data source, a special Supplement added to the 2021 round of the National Composite Index for Family Planning (NCIFP), to assess in depth the resilience of FP programs in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic across 70 countries spanning six regions.

Methods: The 2021 NCIFP included 961 key informants who were asked questions to assess interference in the countries' ability to achieve objectives, ability to maintain commitment to FP, and availability of information and services.

Inequities in Family Planning in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Introduction: Inequities in reproductive health are widespread, and periodic surveys can trace trends in inequities to guide policies and program implementation.

Methods: We examined National Composite Index for Family Planning surveys from 2017 and 2021 that assessed inequities in access to 7 contraceptive methods and traced patterns of discrimination involving 5 subgroups in low- and middle-income countries. These surveys use 10-25 informants in each country who are knowledgeable at the national level.

What interventions are effective to prevent or respond to female genital mutilation? A review of existing evidence from 2008-2020.

As the final decade of acceleration towards zero new cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM, SDG Target 5.3) by 2030 has begun, increasing the rigour, relevance, and utility of research for programming, policy development and resource allocation is critical. This study aimed to synthesize and assess the quality and strength of existing evidence on interventions designed to prevent or respond to FGM between 2008 and 2020.

The National Composite Index for Family Planning (NCIFP): Results and Methodological Issues.

 The " FP2020 Global Partnership" signaled a shift to broader, rights-based approaches to family planning programs, and the National Composite Index for Family Planning was developed as part of related measurement efforts. In each country 10-15 experts on the family planning program completed a 35-item questionnaire, first in 2014 in 89 countries, and in 2017 in 84 countries. Data were entered in Excel, with checks for consistency and data quality.

A long way to go: engagement of men and boys in country family planning commitments and implementation plans.

 To reach global goals related to women and girls' access to modern family planning (FP) and gender equality, evidence shows that it is critical to understand and account for the role of men and boys as users of reproductive health services, as partners for millions of women & girls around the world, and as advocates in their communities. Under the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) partnership, countries were encouraged to develop costed implementation plans and action plans in an effort to provide 120 million additional women and girls with contraception. As FP2020 becomes FP2030, reviewing these previously-developed strategies helps understand the extent to which countries considered the engagement of men as an important aspect of their family planning portfolios.

Advancing Rights-Based Family Planning from 2020 to 2030.

Introduction: An assessment in 2019 by Family Planning 2020 of progress on rights-based family planning since 2012 highlighted the development of tools and guidelines that identify and explain rights in relation to family planning, promotion of rights-based approaches to programing, strengthened accountability, and measurement of rights-focused outcomes. The assessment was also forward-looking, asking what aspects of rights-based family planning still need attention moving from 2020 to 2030.

Methods: This paper draws on interviews with 23 key informants from governments, civil society, and youth focused organizations, implementing partners, and bi-lateral and multilateral organizations from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, all working on family planning and engaged in various roles with the FP2020 partnership at global and national levels, along with documentation of FP2030 partnership plans.

Faith-Based Advocacy for Family Planning Works: Evidence From Kenya and Zambia.

Faith-based organizations and religious leaders can be effective family planning advocates for policy change, funding, and services. To do so, they need evidence-based knowledge, training, support within their faith communities, as well as respect for their beliefs and values.

Contraceptive Method Mix: Updates and Implications.

Context: Improving contraceptive method choice is a goal of international family planning. Method mix-the percentage distribution of total contraceptive use across various methods-reflects both supply (availability of affordable methods) and demand (client preferences). We analyze changes in method mix, regional contrasts, and the relationship of the mix to contraceptive prevalence.

Implementing social accountability for contraceptive services: lessons from Uganda.

Background: Growing evidence shows that social accountability contributes to improving health care services, with much promise for addressing women's barriers in contraceptive care. Yet little is known about how social accountability works in the often-complex context of sexual and reproductive health, particularly as sex and reproduction can be sensitive topics in the open and public formats typical of social accountability. This paper explores how social accountability operates in the highly gendered and complex context of contraceptive care.

Improving Voluntary, Rights-Based Family Planning: Experience From Nigeria And Uganda.

Background: Growing focus on the need for voluntary, rights-based family planning (VRBFP) has drawn attention to the lack of programs that adhere to the range of rights principles. This paper describes two first-of-their-kind interventions in Kaduna State, Nigeria and in Uganda in 2016-2017, accompanied by implementation research based on a conceptual framework that translates internationally agreed rights into family planning programming.

Methods: This paper describes the interventions, and profiles lessons learned about VRBFP implementation from both countries, as well as measured outcomes of VRBFP programming from Nigeria.

Trends in Contraceptive Prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Roles of Family Planning Programs and Education.

Since the 1990s some countries in Africa have experienced very rapid increases in contraceptive prevalence (e.g. Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda), while others (e.

The Extent to Which Performance-Based Financing Programs' Operations Manuals Reflect Rights-Based Principles: Implications for Family Planning Services.

Recognition is growing that development programs need to be guided by rights as well as to promote, protect, and fulfill them. Drawing from a content analysis of performance-based financing (PBF) implementation manuals, we quantify the extent to which these manuals use a rights perspective to frame family planning services. PBF is an adaptable service purchasing strategy that aims to improve equity and quality of health service provision.

Family planning and resilience: associations found in a Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) project in Western Tanzania.

Using 2016 household survey data from Tanzania, we define and measure resilience within the context of Population, Health, and Environment programming and quantify the link between resilience and family planning. We created a multicomponent model using confirmatory factor analysis in a structural equation modeling context. Factor loadings for eight defined latent factors of resilience were statistically significant ( < 0.

Closing the Gap between People and Programs: Lessons from Implementation of Social Accountability for Family Planning and Reproductive Health in Uganda.

Globally, women's access to modern contraception can be attributed to poor service conditions and care. Growing evidence from across the health sector has found that social accountability approaches have the potential to improve the quality of care and therefore the utilization of health services, little of this evidence relates to family planning and reproductive health programs. This paper therefore assessed the results of retrospective implementation research into a five-year social accountability project in Uganda that focused on family planning and reproductive health.

Revising the FP Quality of Care Framework in the Context of Rights-based Family Planning.

Nearly three decades ago, Bruce articulated a client-centered quality of care (QoC) framework for family planning services. The term quality has since then been used in many rights-based frameworks for health, reproductive health, and family planning. This commentary compares the concept of quality used in many of these frameworks to reconcile the elements of the FP QoC framework with the use of quality in various rights frameworks.

The Role of Public-Sector Family Planning Programs in Meeting the Demand for Contraception in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Context: Commonly used indicators of contraceptive behavior in a population-modern contraceptive prevalence (mCPR), unmet need for contraception, demand for contraception and demand satisfied-are not well-suited for evaluating the progress made by government family planning programs in helping women and men achieve their reproductive goals.

Methods: Trends in these measures in 26 Sub-Saharan African countries between 1990 and 2014 were examined. Trends in a proposed new indicator, the public-sector family planning program impact score (PFPI), and its relationship to mCPR and the family planning effort score were also assessed.

Are men well served by family planning programs?

Although the range of contraceptives includes methods for men, namely condoms, vasectomy and withdrawal that men use directly, and the Standard Days Method (SDM) that requires their participation, family planning programming has primarily focused on women. What is known about reaching men as contraceptive users? This paper draws from a review of 47 interventions that reached men and proposes 10 key considerations for strengthening programming for men as contraceptive users. A review of programming shows that men and boys are not particularly well served by programs.

USE OF MALE METHODS OF CONTRACEPTION WORLDWIDE.

This article analyses male contraceptive use, both globally and for developing countries. Shares of all contraceptive use due to males are examined, in the context of female use and all use. Patterns according to wealth quintiles are analysed, as well as time trends and geographic variations.

Measuring and monitoring quality of care in family planning: are we ignoring negative experiences?

Despite decades of emphasis on quality of care, qualitative research continues to describe incidents of poor quality client-provider interactions in family planning provision. Using an emerging framework on disrespect and abuse (D and A) in maternal health services, we reviewed the global published literature for quantitative tools that could be used to measure the prevalence of negative client experiences in family planning programs. The search returned over 7,000 articles, but only 12 quantitative tools included measures related to four types of D and A (non-confidential care, non-dignified care, non-consented care, or discrimination).