Rwanda remains one of among the most densely populated countries in sub-Sahara Africa. Many families still have a large family size, with total fertility rates (TFR) ranging from 3.6 in urban to 4.3 in rural areas. About 19 per cent of women and families would like to delay, space and stop childbearing, but are not using Family Planning methods. The Government of Rwanda is committed to managing the population and lowering population growth.
The Ministry of Health is committed to delivering on the promise of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and to guaranteeing reproductive rights and ensuring equitable and universal access to health care, leaving no one behind, and achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health. This requires renewed consideration in the Family Planning (FP) service delivery, including last-mile services and funding to meet FP 2020 goals.
This business case was developed using global and regional literature, and methodology to assess the returns on investment in Family Planning in Rwanda. Among other things, it seeks to uncover what returns Rwanda will get from investing US$1 in the Family Planning programme. The business case also unpacks the monetary savings that accrue to different sectors in Rwanda.
It has shown that investment in Family Planning has significant benefits that go beyond individual women, families and communities. More broadly, investment in Family Planning could yield short-, medium and long-term benefits that cut across several sectors of the economy, including Health, Education, Agriculture, Infrastructure and beyond. It provides a strong justification for the country to increase domestic funding for Family Planning activities, mainly due to the multi-sectoral benefits that the country stands to gain from investing in family planning.
