In August 2015, the Government of Ethiopia shared an update on progress in achieving its financial and program and service delivery commitments to FP2020.  

• The Government of Ethiopia is strengthening youth reproductive health services for family planning in universities by giving training on comprehensive family planning for health professionals and by equipping universities’ clinics with family planning commodities. In addition, the government has implemented demand-creation activities.
• Furthermore, the Ministry of Health has developed a national strategy with a minimum service package for scaling up of adolescent and youth reproductive health services by recognizing the vulnerability of these groups to unwanted pregnancy and pregnancy related complications, STD/HIV/AIDS, accidents and gender-based violence.
• In addition, a multisectoral task force for youth was established and led by the Ministry of Health to expand and strengthen adolescent and youth reproductive health activities. Members of the task force include representatives from different government ministries, CSOs, and partners.

The federal Ministry of Health has engaged in several activities to strengthen Ethiopia’s family planning program and to increase the number of family planning contraceptive users, with a particular focus on pastoralist communities.

• Raising awareness within communities at large is one of these activities. The government has conducted a series of advocacy workshops in pastoralist areas by using religious leaders to address religious, cultural and other related barriers to using family planning. Beside this, the ministry is producing radio and TV messages on family planning and translating these messages into local languages. To increase access for family planning services, different capacity building for health professionals has been provided. In addition, facilities have also been better equipped with family planning commodities and supplies.
• The Reproductive Maternal and Neonatal Health Innovation Fund (RIF) has supported interventions in four regions where fertility is high, use of reproductive maternal and neonatal health services is low and where communities lack access to services, such as pastoralist women. The program is being implemented in Somali, Afar and pastoralist districts of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) and Oromiya. The implementation of innovative activities aimed at reducing barriers and increasing demand for reproductive maternal and neonatal health (RMNH) services is designed to complement on-going efforts to increase access to services for pastoralist communities in Ethiopia.

To ensure commodities security and monitor the availability of contraceptives, the Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceuticals Logistics Management Unit (PLMU) and the Pharmaceuticals Fund Supply Agency (PFSA), with technical support from the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT, engaged in activities to generate timely forecasts and quantifications to support advocacy and resource mobilization efforts.

• PLMU and PFSA conducted supportive supervision and evaluation to monitor stock-outs at service delivery points. In addition, this issue was also addressed in PMA2020’s Round 3 survey.
• The government’s recently revised Reproductive Health Strategy and costed-implementation plan documents contained detailed activities focused on ensuring commodities security and monitoring the availability of contraceptives.

The Government of Ethiopia is driven to meet its FP2020 commitments, which prioritize expanding access to Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs). The following are major initiatives that support this commitment.

•  Implanon Scale-Up Initiative: More than 22,000 Health Extension Workers (HEWs) were trained in different regions of the country. About 1.8 million Implanon insertions have been made nationwide by HEWs since the beginning of the scale‐up program.
• IUCD Scale-Up Initiative: Taking into account the early success of the Implanon Scale-Up Initiative and the increasing demand for LARCs in Ethiopia, the Federal Ministry of Health launched and implemented an IUCD scale‐up project in 2011 and, based on the results of the first round of the project, the second round has been extended till 2017. To date, IUCD service has been expanded to 300 woredas (districts) through choice-based interventions.
• The Federal Ministry of Health has implemented activities to increase awareness of long term family planning methods through community mobilization efforts, behavioral change and communication using different media and conducted sensitization workshops focusing on IUCD for regional health office head, program coordinator, and region political leaders and religious, clan and community leaders, youth and women organization. Also, the ministry has ensured continuous supply of long acting family planning commodities to health institutions.
• The revised reproductive health strategy incorporates new strategies for long-acting reversible methods.

In July 2016, the Government of Ethiopia shared an update on progress in achieving its policy, financial and program and service delivery commitments to FP2020.

The government reports performing the following activities in support of its program and service delivery commitment:

• To help meet the needs of married and unmarried adolescents and youth, the government has undertaken the following activities in 2015-2016:
  • Training on comprehensive family planning was given for university clinic personnel and health professionals to make family planning services available for youths and adolescents in collaboration with partners and Ministry of Education.
  • The government are working to strengthen youth reproductive health services in youth centers by providing training and IEC/BCC materials and franchising private clinics to address both in- and out-of-school adolescents and youths.
  • The Ministry of health has developed a 2015-2020 adolescent youth health strategy and made adolescent and youth reproductive health as one of the components.
  • The government is conducting research on the “factors affecting utilization of family planning among adolescents” and developing a policy brief focused on examining the risk-taking behaviors of adolescents and youth in the country.
  • Taskforce Update Nationally as a country Ministry of Youth and sport established and working specifically on adolescent and youth.
  • The Ministry of Health is a member of a taskforce on adolescents and youth, which has been formed by the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

• The Government of Ethiopia has engaged in the following activities to improve access to family planning for isolated pastoralist communities:
  • In 2015-2016, the ministry continued conducting advocacy activities to promote family planning by engaging religious and community and clan leaders.
  • The government has also started conducting fully-funded research on the barriers for utilization of family planning among pastoralist communities to design evidence-based interventions.
  • In addition, Ethiopia has developed the Health Sector Transformation Plan to 2015-2020, which states equity as one of the transformation agenda focus areas; based on this agenda, the ministry is expanding access for quality family planning services for these communities.

• The government of Ethiopia has engaged in the following activities in 2015-2016 to strengthen commodities security and to monitoring the availability of contraceptives:
  • The Pharmaceuticals Fund Supply Agency (PFSA) has established a family planning logistics technical working group to coordinate all stakeholders for the efficient management of the logistics system; the technical working group meets monthly.
  • A three-year forecasting and quantification analysis has been developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceuticals Logistics Management Unit (PLMU) and Pharmaceuticals Fund Supply Agency (PFSA), and with technical support from the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT for advocacy and resource mobilization.
  • Regarding the availability of contraceptives, supportive supervision and evaluation has been undertaken to monitor stock-outs at service delivery points. UNFPA has also conducted a stock status survey.
  • The government has continued to fulfil commodities needs based on gaps and requests made by health facilities.

• The government of Ethiopia has engaged in the following activities to increase the uptake of long-acting reversible methods:
  • Both the Implanon Scale-Up and IUCD Scale-Up initiatives continue to be implemented, with more than 3000 health extension workers being trained on Implanon and 2401 health care providers being oriented to the new Implanon NXT.
  • In addition to this, the ministry is piloting IUCD provision by level 4 health extension workers in selected woredas and zones with high population pressure and low family planning use. The government has trained level 4 health extension workers from selected zones and equipped them.
  • To address high unmet need, the government is expanding post-partum family planning services in hospitals and health centers with high delivery caseloads.

In August 2015, the Government of Ethiopia shared an update on progress in achieving its financial and program and service delivery commitments to FP2020. 

• Ethiopia has allocated domestic funds for family planning since 2008. Initially, allocation was as low as 2 million, and last year the budget has grown to 15 million after [Ethiopia joined] FP2020. Maternal health services were exempted at least on PHCU levels but [this activity is not] costed.
• In recent years, there has been growth of regional ownership for financing for health services. More than half of the government’s financial contribution to health is from regional and local governments. Three regions (Amhara, Benshngul Gumuz and SNNPR) and one city (Addis Ababa) have recently earmarked around 4 million Birr for family planning programs and commodity procurement for 2015. However, most regions still do not have budgets specifically for family planning, and in those regions, advocacy has been conducted to support the allocation of funds for family planning needs.

In July 2016, the Government of Ethiopia shared an update on progress in achieving its policy, financial and program and service delivery commitments to FP2020.

The government reports performing the following activities in support of its financial commitment: 

• At the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, the government of Ethiopia committed to increasing budget allocation for family planning yearly. The government reports the expenditure for family planning in 2015-2016, including estimated cost for human resources, was US $27,551,187. In addition, the government has conducted regional advocacy workshops to promote family planning as a major priority of health activities and budget allocation activities.