HIGHLIGHTS
- Jordan needed to increase the demand and use of RMNCH+ services and family planning.
- Abt helped USAID’s JCAP activity build Jordan’s capacity to respond to population and family planning issues.
- The policy and public environment are more conducive to family planning demand and use.
The Challenge
The Government of Jordan (GOJ) worked with USAID to increase the use of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health services, including nutrition (RMNCH+), as a safe, effective, and acceptable way to ensure a healthy family, build a sustainable community, and maintain a secure Jordan. The USAID-funded Jordan Communication, Advocacy, and Policy (JCAP) activity worked with Jordan’s Ministry of Health and the Higher Population Council to strategize and to implement and monitor JCAP’s activities.
The Approach
Abt Global led JCAP’s social and behavior change communication (SBCC) and advocacy and policy interventions. The goal was to increase demand for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services, establish a policy environment supportive of FP, and change social norms related to family size.
In response to emerging needs associated with RMNCH+, JCAP also planned and conducted an SBCC campaign addressing nutrition and anemia prevention. These efforts included collaborating with the GOJ to ensure that policy and planning at both the national and governorate levels took into account population growth data and projected resource needs.
The Results
Abt’s work with JCAP successfully helped the GOJ and local institutions build technical and leadership capacity that could support national SBCC programming. JCAP met—and in some cases exceeded—program targets. These include:
- Building GOJ’s in-house technical capacity to design and sustain effective SBCC family planning programs. JCAP mentored local staff as they independently designed and managed first-year activities.
- Using an integrated mix of communication channels and community-based activities. JCAP reached over 2.3 million people with its National Anemia Prevention Campaign, Ante Al Hayat.
- Reaching more than 2.8 million people over the age of 18 with FP/RH messaging.
- Advancing priority policy reforms, including the Ministry of Labor’s approval of the Flexible Working Model bylaws, the Cabinet’s approval of the instructions for the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes law, and the draft law to update the Midwifery Law. Abt played a significant role in drafting these policies, coordinating negotiations, and evaluating the level of implementation and main challenges.
Abt Global helped the USAID-funded JCAP activity communicate about—and change behaviors around—sustainable family planning and RMNCH+ services in Jordan.