Malawi: AN EXEMPLAR IN SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS
Malawi emerged as an Exemplar country in both family planning and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR).
Research Brief
Following sustained advocacy and the government’s engagement in global forums, Malawi adopted a national population policy in 1994 that lifted a previous ban on FP. What followed was a decades-long commitment to improving sexual and reproductive health for all women, including adolescents. Malawi achieved this progress by sustaining supportive policies and adaptive financing, improving access to information that increased knowledge and demand, and expanding the contraceptive options available to women and how and where they could access them.
In 2012, Malawi made a global commitment.
"With the goal of "no parenthood before adulthood"… Malawi will develop a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health program to meet the needs of its young people and will work to strengthen effective policy leadership for family planning."
Excerpt from Malawi's FP2020 commitment at the London Summit on Family Planning, 2012
The FP2020 commitment underscores what drove Malawi’s progress. Progress was driven both by the broad investments in family planning that benefited all women and by adolescent-focused efforts such as comprehensive sexuality education and adolescent responsive health services. Malawi’s commitment to girls’ education and child marriage prevention further broadened opportunities for adolescents, strengthening their knowledge, aspirations, and ability to make decisions about their own lives.