Mozambique’s pregnancy-related mortality ratio is one of the highest in Southern Africa at 443 deaths per 100,000 live births and a total fertility rate of 5.4 children per woman. Family planning (FP) can prevent up to 32% of maternal deaths and 10% of child deaths globally. Yet health systems challenges, traditional beliefs, misconceptions, poor access to services, challenging policy environments, and low funding commitments have hindered FP uptake in Mozambique, where unmet need for FP is high: 23% of all women who want to space or limit pregnancy lack access to modern contraception.
To improve FP access, Pathfinder International implemented the USAID Integrated Family Planning Program (IFPP, 2016-2021) in partnership with N’weti, Abt Associates, and Population Services International (PSI). This technical brief documents IFPP’s implementation of a mentorship program to improve the quality of FP services in supported districts and share lessons learned and recommendations for replication, adaptation, and scale-up of the mentorship approach.