IPPF Releases One-Year Evaluation of World Bank’s Reproductive Health Action Plan

In a newly released evaluative report, the International Planned Parenthood Federation commends the World Bank for its commitment to sexual and reproductive health as shown through its implementation of the first year of the Reproductive Health Action Plan. However, it also calls on the bank to more closely monitor reproductive health (RH) indicators and increase collaboration with countries to better integrate RH into health systems strengthening programs and national policies.

The Scorecard: Monitoring and Evaluating the Implementation of the World Bank’s Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010-2015 assesses the first year of the action plan, which focuses on reducing high fertility, improving pregnancy outcomes, and reducing sexually transmitted diseases. The plan also outlines the activities the bank will take to help countries borrowing from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) improve reproductive health outcomes. The scorecard is part of an ongoing effort to monitor the plan’s progress and was conducted in collaboration with reproductive health experts from the bank’s Health, Nutrition, and Population division.

Recommendations for further integrating sexual and reproductive health into the policy, programming, and lending including having the Bank:

•    Align the action plan’s reproductive health indicators with those in existing, high-level frameworks, such as the health-related Millennium Development Goals and the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health
•    Support the goals of regional policy frameworks, such as the Maputo Programme of Action
•    Ensure that the action plan is used to shape health systems strengthening programs
•    Advocate with national policy makers to include the action plan’s indicators in Country Assistance Strategies, which seek to focus World Bank development support for all borrowing countries
•    Report regularly on the action plan’s overall and regional progress
•    Ensure “policy coherence” on reproductive health across the World Bank

To read the plan and see the scorecard applied to reproductive health indicators from Mali, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso, click here.