Reproductive Health and Family Planning

Options works with governments, health providers, civil society and communities to strengthen national stewardship of quality, equitable and resilient comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services (SRHR), including safe abortion.

How we’re delivering equitable reproductive health and family planning services

Supporting national and sub-national governments to develop and implement strong policies, plans and budgets for reproductive health

We work closely with governments at all levels to develop and implement evidence-based policies for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services. We work with governments to ensure these policies are implemented at all levels, are supported by adequate financing and feed into workplans and budgets. We help stakeholders collaborate and coordinate throughout policy development and implementation. We ensure that the rights of women and girls, people with disabilities, young people, the poor and others who are marginalised are heard, respected and protected in the process.

Strengthening delivery and coverage of SRHR services

We support health management teams to deliver high-quality, equitable and dignified services. We design accreditation systems for health workers; develop and strengthen tools and approaches for quality improvement; and support governments to meaningfully include the perspectives of health service users and marginalised groups. We support governments and public and private providers to use more innovative, flexible approaches to address the needs of specific users, for example adolescent girls seeking contraception or safe abortions services.

Working with local coalitions and civil society organisations to hold service providers and governments accountable

We support local civil society organisations (CSOs) and coalitions to hold government and service providers to account for the delivery of high-quality, well-financed services. Bringing a customised approach to every partner, we strengthen organisational capacity across organisational governance and management processes, coalition building and technical advocacy approaches such as health budget advocacy.

Advocacy and behaviour change communications to shift social norms and promote sexual reproductive health and rights

The effective delivery of comprehensive SRHR requires us to address social and cultural norms at all levels of the health system. We use political economy analysis and human-centred design to shift control to users and foster more supportive community norms. We support powerful global advocacy movements like The Girl Generation, which is driving efforts to end female genital mutilation/cutting across sub-Saharan Africa. We also use local media and campaigns to address contextual issues.