Barriers to modern family planning use remain, says UNFPA envoy

Rwanda has made tremendous progress in family planning efforts over the last fifteen years, but there are still barriers impeding the use of modern contraceptives. The remarks were made by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) the country representative Jozef Maerien yesterday during an official handover ceremony of contraceptives to Society for Family Health, Rwanda. The ceremony was in line with activities to mark the world contraceptives week. Maerien said there is need to do more research to establish the exact barriers that hinder the use of family planning. “We still need to conduct more research and we are working on that with the government and partners like Society for Family Health but we know that 18.9% of all women of reproductive age have what we call unmet need for family planning,” Maerien said. The unmet need for family planning means that sometimes there is no access to services, lack of knowledge or information, issues related to gender inequality, while in some cases men think that family planning is a women’s responsibility. In Rwanda, the barriers are still at the level of information, people also have misconceptions about family planning methods and side effects, a level of gender inequality particularly in households with low education levels. The percentage of women using family planning increased from 10 per cent in 2005 to 45 per cent 2010 and 48.5 per cent in 2015. However, Maerien said the pace seems to be slowing down lately but applauded efforts nonetheless, saying the upward trend was remarkable. Manasseh Gihana Wandera, the executive director of Society for Family Health Rwanda said for the country to reach its target of 70 per cent by 2018, there is need for concerted efforts from different partners. “It’s good we have proper government commitment and all of us who are doing the implementation are aware of the actions to take, campaigns are also in place so that people can really understand and make informed choices,” Wandera said. “There is absolutely no doubt of what the government of Rwanda has achieved, what is required now is to sensitise people about the use of family planning,” he added. Wandera pointed out one of the biggest challenges as that of men not supporting their wives to use family planning. That’s why they are planning on sensitising men as well, he said. The UNFPA representative handed over 126,000 cycles of Microgynon, valued at $ 44,674 to Society for Family Health Rwanda. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Barriers to modern family planning use remain, says UNFPA envoy