Quality Family Planning Conference

Quality Family Planning Conference
Highlights Importance of Partnership

Ensuring that Indonesian couples have access to quality family
planning services is the subject of a three-day conference
starting in Medan on Tuesday, Dec. 6.

An expected 500 participants, including health professionals,
government officials, NGO representatives and donors have been
invited from seven provinces to the December 2005 Quality
Conference, organized by the National Family Planning
Coordinating Board (BKKBN) and supported and funded by the US
Agency for International Development (USAID).

The conference is the latest highlight in a partnership
between USAID and BKKBN that goes back 35 years. Now, after
working together on one of the world's longest and most
successful family planning and reproductive health programs, the
Government of Indonesia and USAID are moving to a new phase. In
September 2006, USAID will graduate the direct population
assistance program it has been providing to the country through
BKKBN.

'A bridge between two countries'.

"The relationship between the Government of Indonesia and USAID
is one of the most successful partnerships in this country,"
explains Monica Kerrigan, the senior advisor for Reproductive
Health for USAID. "Throughout our 35-year collaboration with
BKKBN, Indonesians have taken USAID's technical assistance and
made one of the most successful programs in family planning,
reproductive health and population in the world.

USAID is very proud of these achievements and we would like to
honor and celebrate this with the BKKBN and with other
stakeholders."

The former Chairman of BKKBN, Dr. Haryono Suyono is a founding
father of the family planning program in Indonesia. He was also
one of the driving forces behind the early teamwork. "It was a
beautiful relationship underscored by excellent cooperation,"
says Suyono.

"There was a great deal of respect and trust on both sides.
What is important today is not the money that USAID brought to
the program, but the relationships that grew out of our shared
goals. It wasn't just a bilateral commitment; our relationship
was a bridge between our two countries."

Dr. Sumarjati Arjoso is the current head of BKKBN. Under her
guidance, the national FP/RH program has built on its strong
success.

Graduation and new beginnings

The graduation of the mature population assistance program
comes as USAID builds on its commitment to family planning and
reproductive health across the archipelago with an integrated
strategy for mother and child health.

"USAID supports Indonesia's commitment to the vital ongoing
need for quality family planning that respects the choices and
meets the needs of all families, explains Kerrigan.

Success through partnership

The Indonesian Family Planning Program is internationally
recognized for its success in bringing down the average family
size, increasing the use of contraceptives and improving the
health of women and children.

In the 1960s, women were routinely having six children and at
least two, on average, would die before reaching school age.
Today, total fertility stands at 2.6 children per family and more
than 60 percent of married couples use some form of
contraception. But the gradual downward trend masks huge
challenges that the leaders of the national family program and
their partners first had to overcome.

"The biggest challenges were to make family planning
acceptable in a social and cultural sense and create the demand
for family planning, while providing quality services and
creating an enabling environment so it could be made available in
a very transparent, open manner," explains Kerrigan. "Through
partnership, those three things have happened. Together we have
built a family planning program that is laying the foundations
for sustainable national development."

STARH Program

USAID has funded a special final-phase program that is being
implemented by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Center for Communication Programs and Johns Hopkins' JHPIEGO.

The STARH (Sustaining Technical Achievements in Reproductive
Health/Family Planning) program works with all stakeholders to
improve the quality and choice of family planning options
available to Indonesians, while advocating for continued
government support. Capacity building, communication and the
drawing up of new national standards have been the main areas of
activity.

"The USAID funded STARH program have been a key part of our
family planning strategy," explains Pak Mazwar Noerdin, the
Deputy for Family Information and Program Policy Integration at
BKKBN.

"Family planning is not a static issue. We are always looking
for ways to tackle new challenges such as those presented by
decentralization. In 2004, responsibility for family planning
shifted from the national level to the regional level.

How do we ensure that the family planning needs of Indonesians
are met? USAID has helped us throughout this period with the
tools and technical expertise to help us find creative solutions
to the country's constantly changing paradigm."

In Indonesia today, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is 2.6 -
down from a rate of around 6.0 in the 1960s.

Partnership after graduation

As BKKBN looks forward to the new post-graduation phase, the
coordinating body anticipates a strong ongoing relationship with
USAID.

"We need to ensure that the advances we have made are
sustainable," explains Pak Noerdin. "We need to learn as much as
possible from USAID in the immediate months and we look forward
to working with them in close partnership in the future."

USAID is also anticipating an exciting new chapter in
relations. They will continue to support family planning through
the Mother and Child Health program, while promoting Indonesia as
an international leader in family planning and reproductive
health. "This program has come along way. Now that it is mature
we feel they should now lead the way. We don't see graduation as
losing touch with BKKBN, rather it's a new approach to a shared
challenge."

The Family Planning Quality Conference is being hosted at the
Grand Angkasa Hotel in Medan. It runs from Dec. 6 to Dec. 8,
2005.

This article was originally printed in this newspaper on Dec. 5,
2005 but due to an error is being reprinted today.

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USEFUL WEB PAGES:
www.bkkbn.go.id/
www.usaid.gov/id/about/bhs.html
www.jhuccp.org/asia/indonesia/starh

RESOURCES
www.kbberkualitas.or.id

CONTACT DETAILS:

STARH Program, BKKBN Building 1, 3rd Floor, Jl Permata 1, Halim
Perdanakusuma, Jakarta Timor, 13650. Tel: (62 21) 801 6640, 525
2174; 525 2183 Fax: (62 21) 801 6649. E-mail: starh@jhuccp.or.id