Project achievements

The project workers based their services on the integrated package of essential services (IPES), reaching women and girls through three different routes: mobile camps (run by doctors), outreach clinics (run by staff nurses) and community-based distributors (CBDs). These CBDs were peer educators and reproductive health female volunteers. The most sought-after services from the mobile camps were family planning, non-surgical vasectomies and implants. There was also high demand for gynaecological services, including the treatment of uterine prolapse and cervical cancer screening, especially for women living in remote, rural areas who would not normally venture out of their villages. Young people under 25 accounted for almost a quarter of the beneficiaries.

Training modules were updated to improve disaster preparedness in responding to SRH and HIV needs, complemented by additional training on IPES, sexually transmitted infections and the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP). The efforts to improve disaster preparedness for SRH responses through the implementation of MISP were crucial to safeguarding reproductive health in the wake of the pandemic. Furthermore, these efforts also ensured that the basic humanitarian needs of the affected population including reproductive health service provision and SGBV prevention and response were addressed during other disasters, such as the flooding in Melamchi.

The project’s achievements such as district-level coordination meetings, emergency response planning, pre-positioning of emergency supplies and training on MISP significantly improved disaster preparedness and aligned with the Nepalese government's recommitment to the International Conference on Population and Development's Programme of Action, outlined at the Nairobi Summit in 2019.

The initiatives to strengthen FPAN’s partnerships with other agencies, set up patient-tracking systems and formalise referral systems had a significant impact. Tracking systems minimised the number of clients lost to follow-up, while effective referrals helped reduce the vertical transmission of HIV. Enhanced referral systems for obstetric emergencies across all the project areas was equally important in working towards zero preventable maternal deaths by 2030, though much still needs to be done to ensure consistent referral and patient-tracking systems are sustained.