Changing Women’s Lives,
One Conversation at a Time
In Pakistan, PSI goes door-to-door to reach women with contraceptive information and solutions.
Learn about the impact we are making—and how you can help take the work further.
All women deserve choice, but in Pakistan, not all women have it. In Pakistan where progress toward health equity is stalling, PSI increases access to and uptake of contraception by reaching women through sources they trust: women’s groups, neighborhood clinics, and recommendations from other women.
With 207 million residents, Pakistan ranks as the world’s sixth most populous country. And it’s only projected to grow; by 2050, the country’s population will reach an estimated 350+ million people.
Though immense progress has been made over the past decades, the number of women who want to prevent pregnancy but are using modern contraceptive methods has plateaued.
The implications run deep; today, nearly 40% of pregnancies in Pakistan are unintended – often putting at risk the lives of mothers, their children and their families.
These unintended pregnancies are in part due to deeply rooted opposition to modern contraceptives: cultural stigma, fear of side effects or other health risks from medications, or opposition from family all prevent women from seeking out contraception. COVID-19 has only introduced more challenges to access, with physical barriers to treatment or product distribution due to social distancing and other cautions.
Sources like Sughra, a mother in Bahawalpur district.
Her friend told her about PSI’s program and how she could help to provide other women with trusted information about and access to contraception.
PSI was looking for trusted community leaders like Sughra and training them how to spread information about family planning in their neighborhood, while simultaneously addressing their issues around birth spacing and safety of methods.
Sughra signed up, knowing immediately who she needed to reach out to: her daughter-in-law, Qaisra. Qaisra had two children and was feeling overwhelmed by the stress of caring for her family.
Sughra advised her daughter-in-law to take up a contraceptive method so she could space out her future children and alleviate some of her stress. Given that family, like mothers-in-law, can often be the pressure behind a growing family, women like Sughra are flipping the script for contraceptive choice in Pakistan.
Despite progress there are many other women that still don’t have access to contraceptive solutions. 52% of married women of reproductive age (15-49) in Pakistan who want to prevent pregnancy are not using a modern contraceptive method.
Without access to contraception, these women lack access to choice.
Investing in contraception is one of the most impactful ways to help women and girls around the world. Every dollar invested in sexual and reproductive health solutions – like contraceptive access and education – translates to a $6 in savings in other health costs.
For $6.35, you can help ensure all women – like Qaisra – have choice. Because when women can choose their own futures, amazing possibilities follow.
*Calculated using the DAFPAK program in Pakistan, a FCDO-funded and PSI-led initiative aimed at reducing maternal deaths, unintended pregnancies, and unsafe abortions through increased usage and availability of family planning (FP) products-and-services
