In Francophone West African countries, the number of married women using modern methods of contraception is especially low, varying by country from 5 to 13 percent. For every woman using a modern method of contraception, there are between three and five who would like to space or limit childbearing but aren't using family planning.

Through the Ouagadougou Cooperation, USAID aims to improve donor coordination and provide support at the country and regional levels to address the high level of unmet need for family planning in the region. The partnership grew out of a successful conference called Population, Development, and Family Planning in Francophone West Africa: An Urgency for Action, which was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, February 8–10, 2011. This first-ever USAID and French Government partnership has attracted prominent involvement from numerous bilateral and multilateral donor organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the West African Health Organization, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Population Fund, WHO, Germany/KFW and GIZ, and the European Commission. The Ouagadougou Cooperation currently focuses efforts in eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

Today, more than 215 million women who want to delay or avoid pregnancy lack access to family planning information and services, and more than 350,000 women die each year from complications during pregnancy or childbirth.

USAID, the UK Department for International Development, the Australian Agency for International Development, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have worked in partnership to accelerate progress in lowering the unmet need for family planning and improving maternal and child health. Through our joint efforts, by 2015, the Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal, and Newborn Health aims to contribute to:

• 100 million additional users of modern methods of family planning to reduce unmet need
• 67 million more women giving birth with the help of skilled attendants to reduce the maternal mortality ratio
• 80 million more infants exclusively breastfed through the first 6 months of life to reduce newborn mortality

Through shared planning and funding, coordinated implementation, joint problem solving, and joint learning, we've seen results that have far exceeded what any one organization could have achieved on its own.

• Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers: This handbook, which is one of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) "four cornerstones" of family planning guidance, offers evidence-based recommendations to help family planning providers apply research findings in their everyday practice. The handbook is available in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Persian, Romanian, Russian, and Swahili.
• Repositioning Family Planning: Guidelines for Advocacy Action [PDF, 1.3MB]: The goal of this toolkit is to help those working to promote family planning across Africa effectively advocate for renewed emphasis on family planning; enhance the visibility, availability, and quality of family planning services for increased contraceptive use; and ultimately improve the quality of life and pace of development across the region. The toolkit also is available in French [PDF, 1.6MB].
• Contraceptive Effectiveness Chart [PDF, 212KB]: This simple chart promotes informed choices by improving a client's knowledge about the relative effectiveness of available methods. To receive a copy in French, e-mail publications@fhi.org.
• K4Health eToolkits: This webpage features electronic libraries of family planning resources designed for health program managers, service providers, and policy makers.
• Conclusions from a Technical Consultation: Community-Based Health Workers Can Safely and Effectively Administer Injectable Contraceptives: In June 2009, USAID, WHO, and FHI convened a Technical Consultation that concluded that community-based provision of progestin-only injectable contraceptives by appropriately trained community health workers is safe, effective, and acceptable. The consultation brief also is available in French [PDF, 502KB].
• Provision of Injectable Contraception Services through Community-Based Distribution: Implementation Handbook: Produced in collaboration with Save the Children USA, this step-by-step guide explains how to introduce injectable contraceptives into an existing community-based distribution program. This resource also is available in French.
• Global Postabortion Care Resource Package: This website serves as a comprehensive repository of basic instruments intended for policy makers and program planners who are designing or revising their current postabortion care program.
• Quick Reference Chart for the Medical Eligibility Criteria of the WHO 2008: This chart summarizes WHO's Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, covering combined oral contraceptives, injectables, implants, and copper IUDs. The chart also is available in French [PDF, 93KB].
• Expanding Contraceptive Choice to the Underserved through Delivery of Mobile Outreach Services: A Handbook for Program Planners: This handbook provides general guidance on how to design and implement mobile outreach family planning services.
• USAID's Communication to the Field: Response to Hormonal Contraception and HIV Findings - 10/07/11 [PDF, 107KB]: USAID worked closely with the World Health Organization to convene an expert technical consultation to review the body of evidence on hormonal contraception and HIV risks. The expert consultation concluded that women living with HIV or at high risk of HIV can safely use all methods of hormonal contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy, and recommended that women at high risk of HIV, including those using injectable contraception, be advised to also always use male or female condoms and other HIV preventive measures.
• The Interagency Youth Working Group Resources: This webpage provides resources to advance the reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes of young people ages 10 to 24 in developing countries.
• Coalition Advancing Multipurpose Innovations (CAMI): Using a multidisciplinary approach, CAMI promotes the development of and access to innovative prevention strategies that enhance reproductive health.
• Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) Toolkit: The PHE toolkit is a resource for practitioners; program managers; and health, conservation, and development professionals interested in projects and policies that integrate community development activities, with a focus on environment and health interventions.