PROGRESS (Program Research for Strengthening Services) focuses on improving family planning services among underserved populations in developing countries. The project works through research, utilization of research results, and capacity building. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the five-year project to FHI in June 2008.

PROGRESS is committed to building the capacity of researchers and health program managers to apply new knowledge, and promotes the scale-up of existing and new research findings globally. The project works at global and country levels. Activities fall into three technical areas, shown below.

For an update on PROGRESS activities, see our newsletters below:

1. Works in PROGRESS No. 1
2. Works in PROGRESS No. 2
3. Works in PROGRESS No. 3
4. Works in PROGRESS No. 4
5. Works in PROGRESS No. 5

Global Technical Leadership

Activities seek to advance evidence-based policies and practices that can help make contraceptive options available through expanded service-delivery options. Global technical leadership involves a wide range of activities, including coordinating global technical meetings, synthesizing information from country activities and global knowledge, sharing innovative approaches to addressing family planning, and facilitating the use of best practices. Below are three areas where PROGRESS has played a leadership role, with links to materials that will be useful to programs at the local and global levels.

• Technical Leadership Meetings
• Technical Consultation on Expanding Access to Injectable Contraception
• Mobile Technology: Text Messages for Better Reproductive Health
• Collaboration with the East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA)
• Collaboration with the Implementing Best Practices Initiative
• Integration of Family Planning and Immunization Services

Country-Level Activities

PROGRESS works through the FHI country offices in collaboration with Ministries of Health, implementing partners, and other stakeholders. Activities include conducting operations research studies in collaboration with local stakeholders, building capacity of research institutions, and providing technical assistance to key stakeholders to advance evidence-based practices through advocacy, technical assistance, and other approaches. Currently, PROGRESS is working in Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.  Two recent leadership roles for PROGRESS at the country level are summarized in the links below.

• Ethiopia: Expanding Access to Contraceptive Implants at the Community Level
• Ghana: Integration of Family Planning with Child Immunization Services
• India: E-Forum Launch, New Brief Released, Portfolio Expands
• Kenya: Non-Health Project, Part of Innovative Portfolio
• Malawi: Evaluation of Community-Based Distribution of Injectable Contraception
• Rwanda: Findings on Contraception Non-Use Study and Other Projects
• Tanzania: National Family Planning Costed Implementation Program
• Zambia: Integration of Family Planning with Child Immunization Services

Technical Areas

Task Sharing to Expand Contraceptive Access
Appropriately trained lower-level health workers can safely provide contraceptives and thus increase access to family planning for underserved populations. PROGRESS is expanding the research evidence and knowledge base to enable this maximizing of human resources and to promote the utilization of findings in scaled-up programs.

Expanding Service Delivery Options
Family planning services need to take advantage of multiple service-delivery options, including such health systems as immunization services as well as development efforts in agriculture and the environmental fields. PROGRESS is initiating innovative research efforts in these areas and promoting utilization of new tools and evidence.

Expanding Contraceptive Method Mix
Investments in new and improved contraceptive technologies need to take into account the needs and constraints of users, the community, and lower-level providers. Activities are designed to expand the mix of existing methods where access is limited, including the evaluation of the use of generic products that lower costs and expand access.

More Information

The PROGRESS management team is lead by: Dr. Maggwa Baker, Director; Dr. John Stanback, Deputy Director, Research; and Rose DeBuysscher, Deputy Director, Management.

For more information on PROGRESS, please contact us.