The Fòs Feminista data index grades government agencies on policies and funding impacting family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV & AIDS foreign assistance.
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2018_Acting on the CallActing on the Call is USAID's annual flagship report for reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services. The 2018 report cited country-level annual progress toward family planning targets and provided recommendations to advance family planning in each country context in a manner that was responsive to need. At the same time, the 2018 report, when compared to the 2017 version, included more language regarding USAID's "Journey to Self-Reliance" framework for program countries. This language is consistent with the Trump administration's efforts to reduce U.S. funds for global health as a means to increase the incentive for countries to increase domestic funding. This method of achieving self reliance is neither evidence-based nor sustainable and, given this context, the addition of self reliance language in the report was concerning. Though Acting on the Call reports on both family planning and maternal and child health data, the report did not provide substantial detailed analysis of USAID’s family planning programming. The evaluation of family planning efforts was not included within each country analysis. Additionally, the 2018 report did not mention gender norms or human rights principles as they apply to family planning.
2018_Acquisition and Assistance StrategyAs USAID’s first-ever Acquisition and Assistance (A&A) Strategy, this guidance document increased the accountability and
transparency of USAID's procurement, partnering, and project management processes across the Agency. The goal of this Strategy was to streamline "approaches to design and procurement" and develop "new and innovative methods of collaboration" to advance USAID's Journey to Self-Reliance mandate. The Strategy was responsive to need and evidence-based because it cited the current make-up of USAID foreign assistance funding recipients and set specific goals to diversify this partner base. Many of the strategies and shifts put forward in the report incorporated feedback received from smaller and/or local partners. The Strategy also demonstrated a commitment to human rights norms, specifically to the right of self determination, by actively incorporating local partners in the design, procurement, and implementation of USAID's programming. Though the Strategy referenced the importance of "diverse" partners, it did not define who these partners were except for a specific mention of faith-based organizations. Women's rights and human rights groups should also be explicitly mentioned as underutilized partners because of their important role in advancing SRHR for all populations. This Strategy indicated a meaningful effort by USAID to ensure that local partners and recipient countries are included and supported throughout the Journey to Self-Reliance. However, this effort by USAID seems to be in direct conflict with the Trump Administration's strategy of decreasing appropriated funds as a means to motivate self reliance and haphazardly decrease U.S. involvement in foreign assistance. It is unclear in this Strategy how USAID aims to reconcile this conflict.
2018_Agency Priority Goal Action Plan_Maternal and Child HealthThe Agency Priority Goals (APGs) for Maternal and Child Health provide quarterly updates on family planning commodity delivery and an overview of family planning programs implemented by USAID. The 2018 APGs were responsive to need and evidence-based in that they cited statistics regarding family planning that have informed the APGs. However, this report was lacking references to international human rights norms and did not include discussions surrounding gender norms in family planning programs. There was only one mention of family planning in each of the quarterly and annual indicators without any programmatic detail or guidance. These mentions of family planning were geared toward families and spacing of births, neither of which may apply to people who give birth outside of traditionally defined families or for people who seek contraceptives for purposes other than spacing births. The cited family planning indicator, "Absolute change in modern contraceptive prevalence rate," did not include any consideration for access to contraceptives for key populations, specifically, and did not account for the role of gender norms in shaping family planning and contraceptive access.
2018_Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance FAQs_September 2018The PLGHA FAQs provided detailed guidance on the implementation of Trump's expanded Global Gag Rule for implementing partners as of September 2018. The FAQs were responsive to need in that they clarified areas of the policy that partners had expressed were vague or unclear. The FAQs were neither based in human rights principles nor evidence. The FAQs were also not
gender transformative and substantially hindered USAID's ability to implement comprehensive family planning and SRHR programs that were evidence-informed, responsive to need, consistent with internationally-recognized human rights principles, and
gender transformative.
2017_ADS Chapter 303maa_Standard Provisions for U.S. Nongovernmental OrganizationsThe Standard Provisions for U.S. Non-governmental organization (NGO) Recipients outlined the standard provisions for all global health activities conducted by U.S. NGOs that received global health assistance funds from USAID. This document is part of the Automated Directive System (ADS), which is the standard operating procedure for USAID. The Standard Provisions provided the first instructions for the implementation of the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA) policy and explained the requirements of foreign NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance funds. This partial revision of ADS Chapter 303maa was responsive to need and provided guidance for implementing PLGHA for USAID staff and implementing partners since the Trump Administration’s expansion of the Mexico City Policy. The Standard Provisions explained the limitations placed on U.S.-based NGOs: U.S.-based NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance funding may not provide any health assistance to foreign NGOs who perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning and must ensure that their sub-grantees do not sub-grant to foreign NGOs that violate the PLGHA policy. While USAID did not have control over the policy language itself, USAID could control the guidance they released regarding the implementation of the policy. The Standard Provisions also stated that foreign NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance funds cannot perform or actively promote abortions as a method of family planning or provide funding to other foreign NGOs that do so. If a foreign NGO is found to be in violation of the policy, the provisions stated that their funding will be terminated. Though this updated Standard Provision was responsive to need, this document did not include adequate guidance or definitions regarding terms such as “financial support” and “passive referral.”
2017_ADS Chapter 303mab_Standard Provisions for Non-U.S. Nongovernmental OrganizationsThe Standard Provisions for non-U.S. NGO Recipients outlined the standard provisions for all global health activities conducted by international NGOs that received global health assistance funds from USAID. This document is part of the ADS, which is the standard operating procedure for USAID. The Standard Provisions provided the first instructions for the implementation of the PLGHA policy and explained the requirements of foreign NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance funds. This partial revision of ADS Chapter 303mab was responsive to need and provided guidance for implementing the PLGHA policy for USAID staff and implementing partners since the Trump Administration’s expansion of the Mexico City Policy. The Standard Provisions stated that foreign NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance funds cannot perform or actively promote abortions as a method of family planning or provide funding to other foreign NGOs that do so. If a foreign NGO is found to be in violation of the policy, the provisions stated that their funding will be terminated. The Standard Provisions also explained the limitations placed on U.S.-based NGOs: U.S.-based NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance funding may not provide any health assistance to foreign NGOs who perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning and must ensure that their sub-grantees do not sub-grant to foreign NGOs that violate the PLGHA policy. While USAID did not have control over the policy language itself, USAID could control the guidance they released regarding the implementation of the policy. Though this updated Standard Provision was responsive to need, this document did not include adequate guidance or definitions regarding terms such as “financial support” and “passive referral.”
2016_USAID Adolescent Girl Strategy Implementation PlanThe USAID Adolescent Girl Strategy Implementation Plan was launched in partnership with three other U.S. implementing agencies as part of the first U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls in 2015. The plan moderately promoted SRHR, noting the importance of using USAID’s “whole-of-girl” approach to reduce gender disparities and GBV and increase capacity of women and girls through USAID’s programs. Though it did not explicitly describe USAID’s family planning programs, this Plan provided a high-level overview of the programs, best practices, and indicators that were used to measure USAID’s progress in implementing the Adolescent Girl Strategy across all USAID programs. The Plan was responsive to need and based in evidence. The Implementation Plan also referenced USAID’s ongoing work on gender (e.g., implementing USAID’s 2012 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy) and directly acknowledged the importance of incorporating activities that foster gender equity in all USAID programs. This plan supported the ability of USAID to implement family planning programs that moderately promoted SRHR.
