Shelley Megquier
Former Program Director
Key Staff
Jill Chanley
Former Senior Policy Advisor
Christine Power
Senior Policy Advisor
Gorrety Parmu
Former Policy Advisor
The Challenge
Young people’s ability to freely determine their reproductive lives greatly affects their livelihoods and that of their future families. EEDA offered young people the opportunity to lead family planning policy change efforts through policy research, evidence-based communication, and targeted advocacy strategies.
EEDA’s goals were to improve the implementation of existing family planning policies, especially those that support youth access to and use of contraception; and generate new funding and policy commitments for family planning in response to evidence-driven advocacy. It aimed to achieve these goals by increasing youth advocates’ capacity to measure policy implementation and hold governments accountable for their commitments, and by increasing decisionmakers’ use of evidence.
Outcomes
EEDA pioneered partner-driven and youth-led approaches, backed with solid evidence, that generated 57 new family planning (FP) funding or policy commitments and contributed to 21 unique instances of improved implementation of FP policies.
The project supported the development of more than 111 data-driven, customized advocacy materials that are being used by youth advocates and partner organizations to advance advocacy objectives in 13 countries across Africa and Asia. Through a unique research-to-action curriculum and sustained collaboration, EEDA imparted policy advocacy, communications, or data collection skills to more than 170 youth advocates and representatives from partner organizations.
Our Work
EEDA sought to accomplish its goals of stronger family planning funding, policy commitment, and policy implementation through three activities: a Youth-led Policy Advocacy Partnership in Five Countries, the Family Planning Advocacy Resource Hub, and the Youth Family Planning Policy Scorecard.
Youth Advocacy Partnership in Five Countries
Together, PRB and IYAFP assessed the implementation of youth-friendly family planning services in five countries. Through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys at the national and subnational level in each country, the assessments identified strengths and gaps in the implementation of family planning services to youth ages 15 to 24. We then worked together to create tailored communications materials that make the case for specific advocacy objectives tied to the findings and trained youth advocates on policy communication skills to integrate evidence generated by the assessments into their advocacy.
Learn more about our technical approach, learnings, and accomplishments through three short videos:
Pioneer | Learn | Sustain
Access communications materials that make the case for specific advocacy objectives tied to our research findings in five countries:
Burkina Faso | Kenya | Ethiopia | Nigeria | Uganda
Family Planning Advocacy Resource Hub
The Family Planning Advocacy Resource Hub, a component of the EEDA project, equipped advocacy organizations with communications materials that fluently integrate data and evidence in formats that are compelling to decisionmakers. When paired with effective advocacy strategies, our evidence-based communication messages and tools helped catalyze the progress of family planning advocacy organizations toward their objectives and goals.
Youth Family Planning Policy Scorecard
Through EEDA, PRB monitored the policy environment for youth-friendly family planning services through our flagship Youth Family Planning Policy Scorecard, updated every six to 12 months. The Scorecard, available on a digital platform in English and French, analyzed the policy environment of 28 countries across eight indicators proven to increase youth access to and use of contraception.