Effective advocacy proposes specific, actionable solutions and is strategic, targeted, well designed and firmly supported by reliable, relevant, recent data.

The Family Planning Advocacy Toolkit provides advocates at all levels, including international, national, and community leaders, with the information and tools they need to make the case for improved access to voluntary family planning. The Toolkit contains a carefully selected collection of state-of-the-art resources for effective family planning advocacy. Use the site map or the navigation menu on the right side of the page to browse resources by topic. For more information about the Toolkit and how to use it, please visit the About page.

Revitalizing Family Planning: The Crucial Role of Advocacy

A renewed focus on expanding access to family planning has come about in response to the fact that unmet need for family planning remains unacceptably high: in a 2017 fact sheet, the Guttmacher Institute estimated that 214 million women want to avoid pregnancy but lack access to family planning services. This unmet need is fueled partly by both a growing population and a shortage of family planning services. Family planning contributes to all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is explicit in Target 3.7: By 2030, 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.

Advocacy is essential to reaching the Family Planning 2020 goal of delivering contraceptives, information and services to an additional 120 million women of reproductive age worldwide by the year 2020. This increased access to voluntary family planning could cumulatively prevent 100 million unintended pregnancies, 3 million infant deaths, and 200,000 pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths.

Tools for Advocacy

Multimedia tools and infographics can be very effective in delivering key advocacy messages. This infographic highlights the health risks of unintended pregnancies and the importance of donated commodites in ensuring contraceptive access around the world. Click on the image to view an enlarged version of the full infographic.