The Steering Committee of the National Reproductive Health/Family Planning Strategy of (2013-2018) reviewed the results of the 2016 executive plan’s monitoring and evaluation report at a meeting organized by HPC and attended by steering committee members and focal points from concerned national institutions.

The meeting aimed to discuss the annual M&E report to follows up on the inputs and outputs of the 2016 executive plan of the National Reproductive Health/ Family Planning Strategy (2013-2018) and present the 2017 executive plan along with the activities to be implemented by partners to implement key strategic interventions as per the updated strategy outcomes.

The 2016 M&E report included an analysis of the national indicators for reaching the outcomes of the strategy, the actual national interventions made by partners and the activities that need to be implemented to achieve national partner interventions.

The report noted that the key challenges that led to delays in strategic interventions included weak partnerships between the public and private sectors, lack of budget allocations for reproductive health initiatives in national institutions, shortage of human resources, especially female healthcare providers and waves of migration into Jordan impacting the achievement of national priorities.

Participants at the meeting emphasized the importance of integrating reproductive health/ family planning concepts in school curricula to raise student awareness and educating community members and raising their awareness of the risks of child marriage and its impact on the health of women and families.

Participants also underpinned the need for more community-based interventions to raise youth awareness of reproductive health/ family planning, as well as the need to follow up on the findings of studies and research in this field as some may include inaccuracies that cannot be generalized.

The strategy aims to improve the reproductive health/ family planning environment (policy/ services/ information) to support the demographic transition and help reduce maternal and child deaths and achieve the wellbeing of families in Jordan with a rights-based approach focusing on three medium term outcomes encompassing an enabling legislative and policy environment for reproductive health/ family planning, provision of quality, fair and accessible services and information in this field and achieving positive change in social attitudes and beliefs towards these issues.