Healthcare Systems Strengthening in Jordan

Highlights

Jordan has one of the world’s fastest-growing populations.
Abt helped implement a Family Planning Service Delivery Improvement Collaborative.
Participating health centers saw increased use of family planning services.

The Challenge

Jordan has more than 6.5 million people, an annual population growth rate of 2.2 percent and a large influx of refugees, making it one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. Although more Jordanians are spacing births and using contraception than in the past, the country’s fertility rate of more than three births per woman slows progress in the country’s socioeconomic indicators.

The Approach

Abt led the Health Systems Strengthening (HSS II) Project from 2009–2014 and the HSS II Bridge, which built on that work. HSS II Bridge implemented a Family Planning Service Delivery Improvement Collaborative to improve the quality of and access to safe motherhood and family planning health care services in 24 health centers and six hospitals. The project helped health providers analyze data, identify service gaps, develop and implement changes to improve performance, and monitor progress to adjust interventions.

The Results

Results from this short-term intervention included:

A 60% increase in average couple years of protection delivered per month over the six months of the collaborative
An increase in the proportion of family planning users who obtained long-acting reversible contraception as their preferred method
A sharp increase in the number of people family planning promotion activities reached
Improved internal referral for postpartum and other primary healthcare clients
Increased family planning informational sessions inside and outside the clinics

Focus Areas

Health

Health Policy & Systems

Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH)

Capabilities

Technical Assistance & Implementation

Regions

Middle East & North Africa