While most family planning experts agree that the “perfect” voluntary family planning program doesn’t exist, and may never, it is often because of factors over which we have little control. Shifting populations of women and girls of childbearing age, climate emergencies, pandemics, changes in governments can all arise and affect the best efforts of those who provide voluntary family planning. But most people who responded to our outreach believe that there is no harm in striving for perfection and getting as close as possible.
“We absolutely must keep trying,” states Lynn M. Van Lith, Technical Director for Breakthrough ACTION. “Even when not perfect, as long as we are listening deeply to what women and girls want and need related to meeting their reproductive intentions, whatever they may be.”
And Maryjane Lacoste, Senior Program Officer, Family Planning, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reminds us that all family planning programs must be agile and prepared for the unexpected: “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that in times of crisis, women and girls are especially vulnerable as essential health services like family planning become increasingly disrupted and tens of millions of women and girls lose access to contraception. Effective programs have been able to meet this moment by ensuring women and girls can access contraceptives, counselling and information outside of facilities and via mobile and digital platforms. The current work that is being done through donor partnership to support countries with introduction and scale up of DMPA-SC self-injection is key to a self-care approach that becomes more critical in the context of a pandemic such as COVID-19.”
From the many family planning experts who responded to our survey, it is clear that “perfect” may never be used to describe a voluntary family planning program, despite our best efforts. It is a moving target, and the best we can hope for is to strive to meet the needs of as many women and girls as possible. It’s good every year for each of us to gauge our progress toward improving family planning programs to meet the needs of all women and girls. It is the journey toward perfection that is more important than the destination.