Nurturing Health to Foster Change

CLIENT BRIEF

The client is a non-profit organisation that is focused on reducing poverty, disease and inequity globally. For the past one and half years, Sattva has been supporting their Family Planning, Maternal and Newborn Health (FP MNH) Policy Advocacy and Communication (PAC) team to develop an investment strategy for their portfolio.

SATTVA’S APPROACH

To create a country engagement investment strategy, Sattva carried out the following:

1. Expanding Evidence-Based Family Planning Solutions

• To enhance accessibility to innovative contraceptive methods
• To broaden the range of service delivery avenues, for it to go beyond healthcare facilities.

2. Revolutionising Service Provision for Women and Girls 

• To guarantee the consistent availability of high-quality contraceptives through the support of efficient supply chains
• To enhance the capabilities of the healthcare workforce, to ensure that women and girls receive quality family planning services in public and private institutions.

3. Establishing a Supportive Framework for Adoption 
   • To enhance counselling services and follow-up care, with a particular focus on women with lower parity

Leveraging this approach, the following activities were carried out:

1. A policy, donor and ecosystem landscape study: Extensive secondary research was carried out to understand India’s FP MNH policies, the sector’s top donors and the structure of the entire ecosystem.
2. Identification of emerging policy priorities for FP MNH in India: Potential areas of opportunity for policy advocacy in the FH MNH space were found and highlighted. 
3. Mapping of FP MNH priorities for the client: The FP MNH priorities of the client were analysed and selected based on those of the government.
4. Mapping of FP MNH priorities for implementing partners: The FP MNH priorities of the local implementing partners were decided based on those of the client and the government.

PEOPLE and EXPERTISE 

This project (ongoing) is led by Harsh Ghildiyal (Senior Consultant, Global Accounts team). He is supported by a team who have anchored the project since the engagement design stage, up until its current execution phase. This engagement gave all the members of this team the opportunity to leverage their understanding of the FP MNH sector and government-related areas such as Bills, Acts, Policies and Budgetary documents. Through the course of the project, their knowledge of FP MNH data sources and more specifically, government data has also proven to be an asset. 

BENEFICIARY PROFILE

1. Geography covered: The states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
2. Relevant demographic markers – Adolescents, young mothers, healthcare workers, healthcare professional associations
3. Partners: Working closely with global philanthropy organisations to implement the client’s FP MNH strategy

To understand the policy and stakeholders in the ecosystem, Sattva analysed over 50 national policies and state laws affecting women’s health. 

For this, along with systemic challenges, stakeholders were identified across communities – funders, implementing partners, community groups and policymakers. Insights from the policy and donor landscape, as well as inputs from global medical communities were then used to identify the priorities of donor communities and the government. These priorities were then mapped to the client’s larger objective of creating a five-year investment strategy. 

To foster the spirit of localisation-led growth, Sattva initiated its outreach efforts by conducting primary research across approximately 100 organisations. These organisations were screened against a predefined criterion, resulting in the selection of around 30 organisations for key informant interviews (KIIs). The aim was to identify local partners whose operational and financial maturity, as well as their areas of work, closely aligned with the focus areas of the client. 

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

For this three-year engagement, the key project deliverables are the FP MNH investment strategy for USD 20 million and a list of local organisations working in the FP MNH domain. 

Investment Strategy 

The FP MNH investment strategy identified the short, medium and long-term goals of the FP-MNH PAC portfolio in India for the client. After an intensive stakeholder consultation and primary secondary research-led evidence mapping, the goals were finalised.  

A donor landscaping exercise was undertaken across multiple areas such as Multilaterals, CSR Donors, Flagship Programmes, Domestic and Global Foundations. The focus areas of engagement (FP, MNCH, SRHR, PHC, Allied Health Services etc.) were identified along with priority areas of inventions and flagship investments. To take this a step further, a funding pattern along with its gaps were identified. This aided the tracing of the key areas of opportunity and the funding gaps in the donor landscape, which helped the formulation of the long-term funding strategy of the client. 

Finding Local Implementing Partners

To identify local implementation partners for the investment strategy, Sattva compiled insights from KIIs and highlighted their thematic areas of focus. These insights specifically focussed on Bihar’s ecosystem and therefore identified challenges such as the absence of funding for tech-focused initiatives and lack of research and evidence for on-ground interventions. This research also highlighted the need for more focus on men in family planning and maternal health interventions. 

These findings brought attention to the innovative measures adopted and key organisations involved in the thematic areas of engagement. Additionally, it identified the government’s engagement at different levels and underscored the fact that the district government engagement in Bihar does not prioritise family planning and maternal health.

As a part of this deliverable, Sattva also identified the priority areas of major donors in the FP-MNH space across different geographies and archetypes. Through the landscaping exercise, local partners to implement the strategy were identified. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Research carried out by Sattva since the inception of the project has produced the following insights:

IMPACT

• Discussions with the international PAC Office and their global partners from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh and Pakistan resulted in an investment of USD 25.6 million towards 3 PAC goals, over three years. 
• Based on the strategy presented by Sattva, the client has partnered with organisations such as C3, Marta, WHO, FOGSI, PFI and IWWAGE to actualise the FP MNH PAC Goals
• Ongoing work on this project has presented an opportunity to collaborate with other stakeholders. The team conducted research to find Behavioural Insights (BI) related to the consumption of contraceptives across South Asian countries. BI research landscaping has resulted in a pilot study with the government to understand behavioural factors influencing the uptake of DMPA-SC, a contraceptive injection, and hormonal implants in women.