ISLAMABAD: South Asian nations—mainly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, which once constituted the sub-continent—not only share history, tradition, culture and language but also exhibit similar family and livelihood patterns.
That is why share a common goal of achieving sustainable demographic growth and improving reproductive health.
Despite differences in policy frameworks, resource availability, and cultural attitudes, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh face the common challenge of addressing the unmet needs of young people and marginalised communities.
Adolescent reproductive health remains a particularly complex issue, as stigma and misinformation often prevent young people from seeking contraceptive services.
Ensuring age-appropriate, rights-based family planning (FP) education and services will be crucial in achieving Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) goals.
How can FP2030 advance reproductive health?
Family Planning 2030 is a global initiative aimed at improving access to family planning services. The FP2030’s goal is to help women and girls make informed decisions about family planning and to support gender equality.
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh must enhance the training and capacity-building of healthcare providers to improve the quality of contraceptive counselling, service and product delivery.
Integrating family planning services into digital platforms and mobile clinics bridges the gap in outreach, particularly in underserved areas.
Ensuring age-appropriate, rights-based family planning (FP) education and services will be crucial in achieving Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) goals.
Another critical aspect of FP2030’s success in South Asia is the financial sustainability of family planning programmes. While India and Bangladesh have maintained steady government funding for family planning initiatives, Pakistan remains heavily reliant on international donors.
Governments must pull all the stops to ensure long-term financial commitment for progress in family planning.
Furthermore, strengthening data collection and monitoring mechanisms will allow policymakers to track progress more effectively, identify service gaps, and adjust strategies as needed.
Cultural barriers
Investing in gender-sensitive approaches and engaging men in family planning decision-making can also accelerate progress by fostering greater social acceptance of contraceptive use.
India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have all demonstrated varying degrees of commitment and progress under FP2030.
India’s structured and expansive family programme provides a strong foundation, but challenges in regional disparities and service quality must be addressed.
Governments must pull all the stops to ensure long-term financial commitment for progress in family planning.
Bangladesh’s community-based model and youth-focused initiatives have set an example, yet discontinuation rates and supply chain weaknesses require attention.
Pakistan, despite its efforts to improve contraceptive access, must overcome deep-rooted cultural resistance and infrastructure constraints to achieve meaningful progress.
By fostering regional collaboration, exchanging best practices, and prioritising inclusive and sustainable approaches, these three nations can make significant strides toward achieving their FP2030 commitments and ensuring better reproductive health outcomes for their populations.
Pakistan: social and policy hurdles
Pakistan has one of the highest fertility rates in South Asia, and its FP2030 commitments focus on increasing contraceptive use, reducing maternal mortality, and integrating family planning services within primary healthcare.
However, progress has been slow due to political instability, inconsistent policy implementation, and deep-rooted cultural resistance to contraception.
Recent commitments indicate a stronger governmental push towards achieving family planning goals, but challenges remain in translating policy into tangible outcomes.
International organisations provide substantial funding and technical assistance, helping to improve contraceptive access and awareness.
The country has made strides in ensuring better availability of contraceptive methods in public health facilities, but widespread service gaps persist.
Many rural areas lack adequate family service facilities, leaving women with few options. Additionally, misconceptions and religious opposition remain significant obstacles to family planning adoption.
Women often require spousal or familial consent to access contraceptives, reducing uptake and limiting their reproductive choices.
Efforts to engage religious leaders and community influencers have begun, but widespread cultural change is necessary to overcome these barriers.
Comparative analysis
Comparing the FP2030 commitments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan highlights a shared regional ambition to improve reproductive health but also underscores varying capacities and challenges.
While India benefits from a structured and diverse family planning programme, it must address regional disparities and service quality concerns.
Investing in gender-sensitive approaches and engaging men in family planning decision-making can also accelerate progress by fostering greater social acceptance of contraceptive use.
Bangladesh serves as a model in community-based family planning, yet needs to overcome discontinuation rates and rural access issues.
Pakistan, despite its recent political will, struggles with deep-seated social barriers, weak healthcare infrastructure, and limited funding allocations for family planning programmes.
Way forward
Looking ahead, all three countries must prioritise youth engagement, gender-sensitive approaches, and service quality improvements.
Strengthening partnerships, enhancing male involvement, and ensuring sustained political and financial commitment will be crucial in realising the FP2030 goals and advancing reproductive rights across South Asia.
Additionally, there is a pressing need for innovation in contraceptive delivery, digital health interventions, and mobile outreach services to bridge accessibility gaps in all three nations.
India has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to family planning, making it one of the pioneers in the region.
Under FP2030, India aims to increase modern contraceptive prevalence and expand its range of contraceptive methods.
Its approach emphasises voluntary family planning, gender-sensitive programming, and improved service delivery in rural and urban areas.
The Indian government has integrated family planning into broader health and development programmes, ensuring policy continuity and funding.
India has expanded access to long-acting reversible contraceptives and injectable contraceptives, improving choices for users.
The National Health Mission enables targeted interventions at the state level, allowing flexibility based on local needs.
India engages with private healthcare providers and non-governmental organisations to enhance service delivery, making FP services more accessible.
Certain states, especially in northern India, still report high unmet contraceptive needs and low awareness.
Deep-seated social norms sometimes hinder uptake, particularly for adolescent girls and newly married couples.
Although services are available, quality inconsistencies in counselling and contraceptive provision persist.
The government’s commitment to leveraging technology for family planning service delivery, such as mobile health apps and digital counselling platforms, has the potential to address some of these challenges in the coming years.
Pakistan, despite its efforts to improve contraceptive access, must overcome deep-rooted cultural resistance and infrastructure constraints to achieve meaningful progress.
Bangladesh has been widely praised for its successful family planning initiatives. Under FP2030, the country seeks to further strengthen its achievements by increasing adolescent-friendly services, improving post-partum contraceptive access, and addressing supply chain gaps.
Bangladesh has successfully leveraged public-private partnerships to extend family planning services to rural and hard-to-reach areas.
The deployment of family welfare assistants and community health workers has significantly boosted contraceptive uptake, making family planning services accessible even in the most remote communities.
The country has introduced dedicated programmes targeting young people, ensuring early awareness and access to contraception.
Family planning remains a government priority, reflected in steady financial investment and policy support.
However, despite these successes, many women discontinue contraceptive use due to side effects and lack of counselling. While urban areas enjoy robust services, rural populations still face access issues, with some regions experiencing periodic shortages of contraceptives.
Engaging male partners in family planning decisions remains a challenge due to entrenched societal norms, leading to imbalances in decision-making power.
The government’s focus on strengthening supply chains, expanding education campaigns, and integrating family planning services within broader maternal health programmes offers a promising pathway to sustaining progress.
The FP2030 partners with governments, civil society, donors, and others to increase access to contraceptives and focuses on family planning as a key part of global health, development, and gender equality.
FP2030 uses country-led partnerships to share learning and ensure accountability and it supports voluntary, rights-based approaches to family planning.
The United Nations’ initiative also advocates for gender equality by supporting women and girls, and engaging men, boys, and communities.
The FP2030 succeeded FP2020, a global initiative that ran from 2012 to 2020. The FP2030 builds on the work of FP2020 to advance family planning.
The FP2030’s goal is to help more women and girls use contraceptives, and to support gender equality.
