World Bank board approves $100mn for ‘Punjab Family Planning Program’

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved $100 million for the Punjab Family Planning Program, as it seeks to increase the utilization of family planning services in the country’s largest province.

As per a statement, the program will provide timely access to family planning services free of charge.

It will also institutionalize quality of care across the family planning services delivery system, and support public information and advocacy campaigns so that more families are made aware of the benefits of family planning, the World Bank said.

“This important program aims to achieve universal access to reproductive healthcare and to raise the usage of family planning methods in Punjab to 60% by 2030,” Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, was quoted as saying in the press release.

“This is critical for Pakistan’s development, as excessive population growth rates hampers development, slows the accumulation of human capital, and contributes to keeping families in poverty,” he said.

As per the statement, the program will scale up innovations, such as clinical franchising, voucher schemes, and family planning counseling through community leaders, which have been piloted in different districts of Punjab and have shown improvements in family planning outcomes.

The program will reach areas and communities that have limited or no access to family planning services. It will scale up the voucher incentive scheme, social marketing, male and community leaders’ engagement and youth platforms for increasing utilization of family planning services.

It will also improve the interpersonal communication skills of family planning service providers.

“Family planning enables couples to make informed choices about the number of children they want to have, and when they want to have them,” said Manav Bhattarai, Team Leader for the program.

“Enabling individuals to plan their families helps prevent unplanned or unintended pregnancies, ultimately leading to a decrease in overall fertility rates.”

The World Bank shared the program will be implemented in all districts through the service delivery networks of the Population Welfare Department and the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, the two project implementing agencies.

It uses the Program-for-Results (PforR) financing instrument which links the disbursement of funds directly to the achievement of specific program results.

Last week, the World Bank’s BoD approved $46 million in financing for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Citizen-Centered Service Delivery Project.