The Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) Group’s Funding Gap Analysis: Highlighting Countries’ Urgent Family Planning Supply Needs

Publication date: 2018

The Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) Group’s Funding Gap Analysis: Highlighting Countries’ Urgent Family Planning Supply Needs February 2018 Update In 2017, the group identified and validated funding gaps for additional orders needing to be funded by December 2017, totaling over USD $34 million to avoid shortages, potentially limiting access to family planning for up to nine million women. CSP members have established a standardized process for estimating funding gaps and validating and sharing the results for advocacy. To assist a country in mobilizing additional resources, CSP first ensures that the data provided is accurate and that all traditional funding sources have been exhausted. To do this, CSP has established inclusion criteria for countries, based on quantification best practices. COUNTRIES AND PRODUCTS INCLUDED The CSP group reviews data for 42 countries that rely on full or partial donor support to meet FP program commodity needs and for which regular supply data is available. CSP does not have priority countries, though CSP has greater visibility into stock levels and needs for countries reporting to the Procurement Planning and Monitoring Report (PPMR). The CSP group will work with any country that has the required data to be included in the analysis as described in the inclusion criteria below. The results break out the gap by country (and program where data is available) and for each country the gap is quantified by method in product units and in dollars. The analysis also includes information about potential donor or government funds that may be available for procurement, but that have not yet been allocated to procure specific products. This information can serve as a key advocacy point with donors and governments to ensure urgently needed funds are allocated and released. Through the funding gap analysis and routine stock level monitoring, CSP helped to mobilize and place additional orders for FP products worth $11.1 million in five countries in 2016 and $12.4 million for fourteen countries in 2017. In 2016, the Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) group recognized that while the inter-agency group has been effective at working collaboratively to adjust orders to avoid shortages and stockouts, these actions are contingent on countries having sufficient funding available to place all orders needed. In some cases, countries were continuously flagged as at risk of future supply shortages, but CSP members were unable to take action to mitigate shortages because of a lack of funding. This began the development of the CSP funding gap analysis. The CSP group partners with countries to proactively analyze their supply gaps and quantify the amount of additional funding required in the current year to procure urgently needed commodities. This analysis supports local advocacy efforts already underway in countries and helps to elevate the data to global-level partners. TIMELINE FOR THE ANALYSIS The analysis is meant to inform procurement and funding decisions both at the country and global levels to mobilize funding for shipments to prevent or mitigate stockouts. CSP works on the funding gap analysis on an annual cycle, identifying gaps based on orders that need to be funded before the end of the calendar year. The process normally starts around March; however, the process is on-going and the analysis is updated frequently, as country supply plans and funding inputs may be reviewed and revised at different times throughout the year. The objective is to share known funding gaps as soon as possible and to update the analysis when new information becomes available, as the funding situation in many countries is dynamic and new funding sources (or increases in demand) may be identified throughout the year. RESULTS FROM 2017 In 2017, CSP considered supply plan data for 25 countries, representing on average 68% of the FP2020 donor funded market from 2011 – 2017. Of those that met our inclusion criteria, CSP identified supply gaps that would potentially limit access to family planning for 9 million women. Following Ministry of Health approval, CSP then shared the analysis with relevant stakeholders to advocate for additional resources to address gaps. Through CSP’s routine stock level monitoring process and sharing the funding gap analysis with partners, an additional USD $12.4 million worth of FP product procurement occurred in 2017 providing 7 million couple years of protection (CYPs) to 14 countries. ABOUT THE COORDINATED SUPPLY PLANNING GROUP The Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) Group is a cross-organizational team that strives to prevent family planning commodity stock imbalances by using shared supply chain data and information to better coordinate shipments and the allocation of resources within and among countries. Today, the CSP group members include representatives of UNFPA’s Procurement Services and Commodity Security Branches, USAID, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), John Snow, Inc. (JSI), the Global Health Supply Chain - Procurement and Supply Management project (GHSC-PSM), and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC). EXPANDING THE REACH OF THE CSP FUNDING GAP ANALYSIS The CSP group hopes to expand this analysis both through inclusion of additional countries and connection to additional advocacy partners. We welcome the opportunity to support additional countries in quantifying and sharing urgent funding gaps through access to country supply plans and order information. We are also interested in connecting with additional advocacy partners to strengthen efforts to mobilize resources to ensure more women and girls have access to the family planning products they seek. For more information on this process, please contact the CSP Coordinator, Alexis Heaton (alexis_heaton@jsi.com). THE COORDINATED SUPPLY PLANNING (CSP) GROUP’S FUNDING GAP ANALYSIS: HIGHLIGHTING COUNTRIES’ URGENT FAMILY PLANNING SUPPLY NEEDS mailto:alexis_heaton@jsi.com

View the publication