Family Planning Data and Measurement in the Era of Changing Global Development Architecture

Abstract

Decades of progress in global sexual and reproductive health programming and data availability are threatened as over 80 percent of donor funding for family planning (FP) comes from governments that have announced significant cuts to official development assistance. This commentary examines how FP2030 is adapting its measurement framework and annual reporting given uncertainty around the future of household surveys, such as the Demographic and Health Survey, and the loss of technical resources. FP2030 will pivot from reporting on 22 indicators to a “minimum set” of 15 priority indicators. FP2030's Performance Monitoring and Evidence Working Group (PME WG), a group of FP measurement experts, arrived at these recommendations through a series of consensus‐building working meetings. The 15 indicators leverage existing mathematical models and health management information systems (HMIS). Moreover, this commentary provides a complementary set of indicators that should be prioritized if new data collection opportunities arise. Ultimately, while FP2030 and the PME WG believe that models and HMIS data will become more essential, these tools cannot fully replace household surveys. Continued investment in FP data availability remains critical to ensuring the community can review data that protects the rights and needs of individuals.