COSTED IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

To expand access to contraception, leaders must be strategic in how to invest limited resources among competing priorities. As a result, governments have invested in family planning CIPs to accelerate their progress. A CIP is a multiyear strategic plan that maps and coordinates the investments and activities among partners towards achieving the country’s family planning goals. 

Governments in West Africa, as part of the Ouagadougou Partnership, and East Africa began investing in CIPs as early as 2010. Since then, 15 governments globally have begun implementing CIPs as a road map to coordinate the work of their partners. Key elements of a CIP include: 1.) interventions needed to meet the country’s priority goals, 2.) the costs associated with the interventions, 3.) donor information to mobilize the needed resources and 4.) a strategy to monitor progress toward the goals. Currently, seven additional governments are developing CIPs. 

There are three sequential phases to the CIP process: plan, develop and implement. Throughout the process, stakeholder engagement, advocacy and capacity- building are essential cross-cutting components in achieving success. 

• The planning phase includes securing government and stakeholder buy-in. An initial identification and engagement of key stakeholders is conducted; the approach, tools and techniques are defined (i.e., the how, by whom and when); and resources for the development of the CIPs are secured. 

• The development phase involves creating the strategy and planning for the transition into the execution phase. The development process is iterative and cyclical and involves defining priority issues, interventions and activities and generating budgetary costs. It also includes defining institutional arrangements for implementation, developing a performance-monitoring mechanism and conducting advocacy. ​​

• In the final phase, the CIP is implemented, monitored and managed. Implementation involves several steps that occur in tandem to ensure a sustained commitment from leaders and stakeholders at all levels: leading and managing plan implementation, resource mobilization, advocacy and monitoring progress toward goals. This phase also ensures that the CIP is a dynamic document subject to periodic review and revision based on results and changes in the internal and external environment. 

Partners globally have been providing support to governments since the inception of the CIP process. To collect and unify the knowledge and learning that has been gained, FP2020 convened global experts
in May 2014 to share their experiences and expertise. During the meeting, experts agreed on a consensus package of information and tools that will be included in a resource kit for the creation of new plans as well as the support of existing plans. The CIP resource kit will be available in early 2015.