Nepal
MOMENTUM supports Nepal’s private sector to increase access to voluntary family planning across the country, especially for young people.
Over the last two decades, Nepal has made significant strides toward improving the lives of its people, especially mothers and their children. In 2015, Nepal became one of the few countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals related to maternal and child survival: Maternal deaths decreased by 50 percent from 1996 to 2006, and all districts now have facilities with round-the-clock access to skilled birth attendants so mothers can deliver their babies safely.7 The country has also made progress toward eradicating extreme poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, and malaria.8
Despite these gains, landlocked, mountainous Nepal has some of the most rugged and difficult terrain in the world, isolating many Nepalis from the health care they need. This isolation has created wide disparities between urban and rural people’s access to essential health services, including voluntary family planning. MOMENTUM partners with Nepal’s private sector, including providers, facilities, and pharmacies, to increase access to contraception across the country, especially for young people between the ages of 15 and 29. This partnership is key to helping Nepali women and children access the high-quality health services they need now and in the future.
Expanding Access to Family Planning Through the Private Sector
The number of Nepali women who use modern contraception is growing. However, many young people who want to prevent pregnancy still lack access, especially married adolescent girls and young women under the age of 24.9 Twenty-five percent of Nepali people who use modern contraception get their method from a private source, making the private sector an important partner in expanding access to family planning.10
We support private facilities and pharmacies to provide quality counseling on family planning methods and help them provide access to a full range of methods for their clients. This collaboration has enabled us to share best practices on serving young people and support private providers in managing their businesses.
Creating Tailored Solutions for Youth Family Planning
Using a human-centered approach, we support private providers in their efforts to reach youth with the family planning services they need. This approach is designed to adapt services grounded in the realities that young people experience every day, allowing providers to reach them more effectively.
MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery works with Nepal’s private sector to increase access to voluntary family planning across the country, especially for young people.
References
- Kaneda, Toshiko, Charlotte Greenbaum, and Carl Haub. 2021 World Population Data Sheet. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau. 2021. https://interactives.prb.org/2021-wpds/.
- Kaneda, Greenbaum, and Haub, 2021 World Population Data Sheet.
- Kaneda, Greenbaum, and Haub, 2021 World Population Data Sheet.
- Roser, Max and Hannah Ritchie. “Maternal Mortality.” 2017. https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-mortality.
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Data Warehouse Cross-Sector Indicators: Nepal.” 2017. https://data.unicef.org/country/npl.
- Countdown to 2030. “Countdown Country Dashboard: Nepal.” https://profiles.countdown2030.org/#/ds/NPL.
- World Bank. “Celebrating Bangladesh and Nepal’s Progress in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals.” October 2010. https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/celebrating-bangladesh-and-nepal%E2%80%99s-progress-achieving-millennium-development-goals
- USAID. “Nepal: Global Health.” Updated January 22, 2021. https://www.usaid.gov/nepal/our-work/.
- Ministry of Health Nepal, New ERA, and ICF. 2017. Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. Kathmandu, Nepal: Ministry of Health. https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/fr336/fr336.pdf.
- Private Sector Counts. “Where Do Women Obtain Their Modern Contraception?” 2018. https://www.privatesectorcounts.org/familyplanning/prevalence.html.