Reality Check and Pipeline: Two Complementary Tools for Planning and Contraceptive Forecasting

National commitments to family planning such as those made by dozens of countries as part of the FP2020 global partnership are key to increasing access to family planning for women worldwide. Attaining these commitments requires being able to plan for and ensure a reliable supply of quality contraceptives and adequate financial investment. EngenderHealth and USAID | DELIVER PROJECT are pleased to announce a new resource, Using Reality Check and PipeLine for Contraceptive Forecasting and Supply Planning.

This technical brief provides an overview and comparison of two important contraceptive forecasting and planning tools—Reality Check and PipeLine. Reality Check, developed by EngenderHealth, helps country and program staff use population-level data to model trends in family planning use at a national and subnational level in order to project future use and determine what it would take to reach national commitments. EngenderHealth experiences with Reality Check and lessons about how it is most effectively used can be found . PipeLine, developed by the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT, uses consumption data to plan procurement and delivery schedules and costs and to monitor stock levels in-country. Together, the two tools can be used to make realistic national projections and ensure commodity security.

Using available data to inform decisions and plan at a national and subnational level is critical to increasing access to family planning, and enabling and strengthening in-country capacity for reproductive health commodity security is a fundamental step in safeguarding against stock-outs of these supplies. This brief is aimed at technical advisors and program officers who work to ensure that every person is able to obtain and use the affordable, high-quality reproductive health commodities of their choice, regardless of where they live.

We invite you to download the brief and share it with your colleagues in the field.