Indonesia is known for its successful family planning programme, which has roughly halved the total fertility rate for the country since the 1970s and increased the contraceptive prevalence to almost 60 percent. Part of this success has been due to the development of strategic partnerships with Muslim leaders, who have supported uptake of the programme among their communities.
In order to share Indonesia’s experiences of involving religious leaders in family planning, the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and UNFPA hosted an international training course on Developing Strategic Partnerships with Muslim Leaders and Faith-Based Organizations in Family Planning in Yogyakarta from 9-14 June, 2014.
The training course was held as a South-South Cooperation initiative, involving 20 participants from eight countries in the ‘Global South’: Afghanistan, Banglasdesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan and the Philippines. The participants included 17 Muslim leaders and three programme officers.
The main objective of the training course was to share Indonesia’s best practices and lessons learned from its enagagement of Muslim leaders in family planning. The course began with a series of presentations covering issues such as ‘Islamic Perspectives on Family Planning Programmes’, ‘Islamic Perspectives of Adolescent Reproductive Health and HIV’ and ‘The Role of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah in Family Planning’, looking at the influence of Indonesia’s two biggest Islamic organisations.
Participants were invited to respond critically to the presentations, which were all well prepared and delivered, having been practiced at a dry-run of the training course prior to the international event. The participants were very active in raising questions with the facilitators. Their responses showed a diverse range of experiences, stages of family planning development, and reactions to the involvement of Muslim leaders such as ulama in family planning. Representatives from Bangladesh and Pakistan in particular showed strong support for the involvement of religious leaders in family planning programmes.
"Strategic partnership between the government and the community, including Muslim leaders, is key to Indonesia's success in this area. The endorsement by influential religious leaders of new ideas about family planning has helped communities accept and adopt these new approaches" Said Mr. Jose Ferraris, UNFPA Representative in Indonesia.
The course also involved field visits to witness programmes and activities related to the role of Muslim leaders in family planning, as well as community-based activities that support family planning programmes. These included pre-marriage counselling at the District Religious Affairs office (KUA), an Adolescent Reproductive Health programme at an Islamic boarding school, the mosque-based Beyond Family Planning programme, and family planning services at an Islamic hospital.
Through the field visits, participants were exposed to real activities and were able to engage in dialogue with grassroots-level communities and community leaders, including Muslim leaders. Later, the participants were able to apply the knowledge and skills they had learned by developing action plans, made to suit the stage and involvement of Muslim leaders in family planning progammes in their home countries.
“I really enjoyed (learning about) the Indonesian experience of family planning,” said Mr. Assoumane Guero Issoufou of Niger, who joined the training course. The involvement of ulama, the transformation of Islamic schools and the organization of men in family all contributed to the success of family planning in your beautiful and welcoming country ... Thank you for sharing with us this wonderful experience.”
Tags: family planning
