The global unmet need for family planning (FP) among adolescent girls and young women is over 23 million. Generally, women are considered to have an unmet need for FP if they want to stop or postpone childbearing but are not using contraception. Although Malawi has made significant efforts to improve the accessibility of FP services through the investment in human resources and training, the country's 26.0% and 47.0% prevalence of unmet need and unintended pregnancies, respectively, highlight a persistent contraception problem among Malawian women. Furthermore, disruptions in supply chains, as a result of the pandemic, have limited the availability of contraceptives resulting in considerable increase in unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls and young women.
Over 60 percent of women in Malawi with unmet need for FP live in Zomba and eight (8) other districts.  

In anticipation of the implementation of Project IRAF (Implementation Research on the Advancement of Family Planning), the CenRID Malawi team conducted a readiness assessment with various stakeholders in the Nkagula Traditional Authority in Zomba District. The purpose of the assessment was to evaluate the level of readiness of the district leadership and other relevant stakeholders to participate in the implementation of the project. We conducted key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with key stakeholders, including CSOs. Questionnaires were designed to evaluate the communities’ readiness on six different comprehensive dimensions. A level of readiness from a scale of 1 to 9 was assigned to each dimension. The assessment would ensure that our project delivery strategy is culturally congruent, and the communities will be ready and willing to participate.