On December 7, the government of South Sudan today launched its FP2030 Commitment, continuing a journey begun in 2017 with country’s FP2020 commitment. In launching its commitment, the government also released key complementary documents, the Reproductive Health Policy and Costed Implementation Plan, as part of its recognition the role of family planning in achieving the country development targets and the need to accelerate modern contraceptive prevalence rate to reap the demographic dividend.

Speaking at the launch, South Sudan Minister of Health, Honorable Yolanda Deng Juac said, “The Government of South Sudan commits to attain a 20% contraceptive prevalence rate for modern contraceptives for all women with family planning at the center of national development to harness the demographic dividend and ensure the sexual reproductive health and rights of women and girls are attained by 2030.”

South Sudan has committed to increasing the health sector budget allocation from 2% to 12% (approximately $81.1 million), of which 3% of which will be allocated for family planning, including the procurement of contraceptives/reproductive health commodities by 2025.

Minister Deng Juac added that South Sudan committed that all health facilities and communities will provide unhindered access to human rights-based adolescent and youth-responsive sexual reproductive health (SRH) and contraceptives information by 2026. They further committed to reduce harmful practice like child marriage by 20% and teenage pregnancies to 11%, through the increase to Adolescent and Youth Responsive SRH/information and contraceptives services through innovative, diverse, and participatory approaches.

She added that through the Ministry of Health Monitoring and Evaluation Department, it will institutionalize and harmonize the generation, collection, storge, analysis and dissemination of disaggregated data that includes data on adolescent and young people by 2023.

South Sudan has committed to develop policies and programs anchored in human rights to promote demand and provision of SRH services to the hard-to-reach populations including those internally displaced by conflict, natural disasters, refugees, nomadic pastoralists and the marginalized by 2026.

Speaking at the launch Dr. Sheila Macharia, FP2030 Managing Director, East and Southern Africa Hub, commended South Sudan for the strides it has made since 2017 when it joined the community of family planning commitment makers that has culminated in the launch of the Family Planning Country Commitments.

“I would like to congratulate the government of South Sudan and its partners for the tireless work in getting the Family Planning Country Commitments launched. I would like to recognize the government crucial role in making this a reality since it joined the family planning commitment makers in 2017.”

She added that South Sudan presents the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how to program family planning in the context of conflict and displacements, one that would prove an important learning opportunity for the entire FP2030 partnership.

The launch of South Sudan’s country commitments brings to 25 the countries globally that have made FP2030 commitments. They come against a national backdrop of a lack of data around family planning use, negative myths and misconceptions about the side effects of contraceptives, and a glaring shortage of information for adolescents and youth. The Ministry of Health is being challenged by civil society and youth organizations to partner with the private sector to ensure the availability of a broad range of methods and collect data to document the attainment of the country commitments.