Planning Grant on Opportunities and Barriers to EC Use

The International Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ICEC) announced the launch of a planning grant to strengthen global knowledge of the opportunities and barriers related to EC access and use, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

ICEC and its member organizations will work together to develop a strategy for increasing access to EC in developing countries. The project will begin by defining and documenting barriers to EC access, through an in-depth analysis of global issues and 10-12 country overviews. This analysis will be supplemented by deeper studies at the country level to fill knowledge gaps related to provision of EC, with particular focus on repeat or routine use. FHI and the Population Council, with technical assistance from Gynuity Health Projects have been selected by ICEC as sub-grantees to conduct these studies. ICEC will convene key players to generate a comprehensive action plan to increase EC access for poor and vulnerable women in developing countries, including an advocacy strategy to increase support for completing the unfinished EC agenda. This work is made possible with a planning grant to Family Care International, the host organization for ICEC, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.