Quarterly Report: Health Policy Plus (HP+) Pakistan

The project aims to improve the enabling environment for family planning (FP) 2020 goals through strengthened stewardship, policy implementation, advocacy, and accountability. HP+ Pakistan will pursue four objectives: strengthening population sector stewardship, implementing policies and plans for accelerated progress towards FP 2020 goals, strengthening individual and institutional capacity in advocacy, policy communications, and accountability, and providing support to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination. The project will contribute primarily to two HP+ global results: developing and implementing health policies that improve equity, access, availability, affordability, and acceptability of quality health services, and improving the policy environment for public stewardship, accountability, and transparency. HP+ Pakistan will also address cross-cutting areas of equity, gender equality, capacity development, and sustainability for improved quality health services. In the third quarter of 2016, HP+ Pakistan conducted a sector-driven Political Economy Analysis (PEA) to explore the underlying relationships, dynamics, opportunities, and challenges affecting the family planning sector in Sindh. The study found that the legacy of devolution, which was implemented abruptly and without sufficient investment in the provinces' capacity to adopt new and expanded roles in policy and governance, is one of the main challenges facing the sector. The PEA identified entry points that extend beyond the scope of the HP+ workplan, including the need to strengthen PWD's administrative capacity and ability to carry out practical planning at the local level and in collaboration with DOH and the People's Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI). HP+ supported the FP2020 Working Group to design an operational plan for functional integration that takes into account the challenges and realities of the political landscape in Sindh. The proposed plan maps directly to the FP 2020 Working Group and the CIP goals, using the Collective Impact Framework to guide and operationalize program activities, communications, capacity development, and measurement throughout CIP execution. HP+ will support PWD and DOH to finalize the step-by-step operational plan in the next quarter and anticipates that it will be well on its way to support tangible gains toward functional integration in Sindh by Year 2 of HP+. HP+ provided extensive technical and operational support for the Population Association of Pakistan's annual conference, including technical support for the first Plenary Session, 'Special Ministerial Session on FP and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 to 6.' HP+ developed four additional documents, including a policy brief, 'Boosting Family Planning within the Sustainable Development Goals Framework: A Way Forward for Sindh,' and two briefs highlighting SDGs 3-5 and SDGs 1, 2, and 6.