For 3 decades, the Government and people of Ecuador prioritized family planning as a way to promote healthier pregnancies and births, reduce high maternal and child mortality, and respond to individuals’ and couples’ desires to plan and space their children.

Overview

• Ecuador made family planning one of the country’s highest health priorities, assuring the right to plan family size and the provision of contraceptives free of charge.
• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supported Ecuador’s family planning program in the context of maternal and child health. This led to increased use of family planning and near universal immunization coverage for children under 5 years of age.
• With USAID technical and financial support between 1970 and 2001, Ecuadorian women more than tripled their use of modern contraceptives, as they increasingly were able to reach their preferred family size.
• USAID assisted non-governmental organizations providing family planning services in Ecuador and helped identify a demand for contraceptive use through marketing campaigns that, in turn, allowed these non-governmental organizations to be sustainable into the future.