In December 2017, the Government of Côte d’Ivoire allocated 500 million West African francs (XOF) (approximately US $930,000) toward purchasing contraceptives in its 2018 budget. Based on Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment made at the Family Planning 2020 London Summit in July 2017, the allocation should increase by 10% each year—helping to achieve unprecedented consistent funding in the coming years.
Côte D’Ivoire has a 21.8% modern contraceptive prevalence rate according to data collected by Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (Sept-Oct 2017).[1] The 2018 budget allocation will enable improvements to both the quantity and quality of available contraceptive commodities.
Médecins du Monde - Côte D’Ivoire (MdM), an Advance Family Planning Opportunity Fund grantee, spearheaded and coordinated advocacy efforts leading to the win. They fostered effective participation of key stakeholders, including the Association Ivoirienne pour le Bien Être Familial, Agir pour la Planification Familiale, the USAID Health Policy Plus project, the Embassy of France to Côte d’Ivoire, UNFPA, and USAID to call for the budget allocation.
Between September 2016 and November 2017, this informal coalition advocated steadily—collecting data from the Ministry of Budget and the Ministry of Health's National Program for Maternal and Child Health (Programme National Santé Mère-Enfant); identifying obstacles and bottlenecks preventing necessary funding for contraceptives; and drafting and delivering an advocacy brief on better financing for family planning to the Director of Finance at the Ministry of Health.
The coalition’s key advocacy activities led the government to make the allocation of 500 million CFA in December.
Médecins du Monde will continue to work closely with civil society organizations to monitor the budget allocation and ensure that the funds are spent effectively and as intended.
The Opportunity Fund, administered by PAI with the support of AFP, is a funding mechanism supporting advocates to seize opportunities to strengthen Family Planning 2020 commitments at the local, national and regional level.
[1] Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) Project, Direction de Coordination du Programme National de Santé de la Mère et de L’Enfant/National Program for the Health of the Mother and Child. 2017. Key Family Planning Indicator Brief: Côte D’Ivoire 2017. Baltimore, MD: PMA2020, Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.