Ethiopia context analysis for accountability interventions to support the delivery of commitments to increase family planning by 2020

This country brief is part of a series of briefs produced by Action2020, a consortium led by Christian Aid and implemented by Christian Aid, Plan International UK, and the HIV/AIDS Alliance. It follows an in-depth investigation into the context and opportunities for civil society-led accountability on family planning in 10 countries, with a focus on the commitments made by Governments as part of FP2020’s global initiative to meet the need of an additional 120 million new contraceptive users by 2020. Each brief provides a country-specific overview of the context for family planning commitments - the power, politics, and potential for accountability interventions related to these commitments – and proposes recommendations for accountability interventions related to these commitments. A general note on Lessons Learned in FP Accountability accompanies this series.

The Ethiopian Government made commitments to increase access to Family Planning (FP) as part of FP2020 and to take the measures within their remit to address some of these barriers. Implementation of FP2020 commitments has the potential to transform family planning provision, extending high-quality services at scale and reaching the most marginalized. But ambitious commitments and limited political incentives mean that implementation is currently lagging in Ethiopia. Accountability interventions can alter this trend by working with a range of actors so that governments and service providers are better able to meet the commitments they have made, leveraging a scale of impact which would be unachievable by alternative interventions.