The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under its momentum country and Global Leadership mechanism, announced a new initiative for India, Momentum Country and Global Leadership: India-Yash, to engage adolescents and youth in decisions about their reproductive health and wellbeing.

Through this four-year project, Momentum Country and Global Leadership: India-Yash will focus on family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) for young people and contribute to the achievement of India’s national FP goals. The project will support the FP/RH needs of India’s marginalized youth in urban and rural areas of Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Young people, aged 15–29 years, make up more than 27.5% of India’s population and, according to the National Youth Policy 2014, contribute about 34% of India’s gross national income. Despite the Sustainable Development Goals for universal access to sexual and RH care services, including FP, by 2030, this cohort of adolescents is underserved when it comes to their sexual and RH needs.

Speaking at the event, Dr. S.K Sikdar, Advisor, FP & MINH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India said "I would like to congratulate USAID for partnering the government in undertaking yet another program to achieve the goals of family planning. Over the years, USAID has been instrumental in effecting changes and addressing family planning issues. As per an RBI report, India is growing rapidly annually. Therefore, a lot needs to be done still and we are confident that the Yash program will play a crucial role in the achievement of socioeconomic and environmental development goals for sustainable development. At the same time, it is also pertinent to strengthen the strategic partnerships, foster multi-sectoral stakeholder involvement, encourage innovation, mobilize the community, and engage actively with the private sector for widespread reach/ success of the program.”

Sangita Patel, Director Health Office, USAID/India said, “The United States remains committed to the long-term success of U.S.-India cooperation in the health sector. USAID has decades of experience working with partners and stakeholders, including the public sector, private sector and young people to advance health and wellbeing.  Many of our efforts include a specific focus on promoting improved reproductive health and reducing gender-based violence. Momentum Country and Global Leadership India-Yash are designed to build upon existing evidence and best practices, as well as to catalyze new ideas and partnerships, using a targeted, contextualized approach. The program also includes a greater focus on building the capacity, sustainability, and resilience of local partner institutions, recognizing that building the technical and organizational capacity of local organizations is necessary to deliver sustainable, evidence-based and quality reproductive health care and voluntary family planning. Momentum Country and Global Leadership: India-Yash seeks to foster recognition for the shared interests and mutually reinforcing goals of all stakeholders in the reproductive health space.”

The Momentum Country and Global Leadership project is led by Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate and partners and will promote the adaptation of evidence-based, high-impact interventions and best practices proven in previous USAID investments and will demonstrate innovative models to accelerate improvement in young people’s FP/ RH outcomes.

The private sector will be a key player in this initiative. Speaking about these partnerships, Dr. Somesh Kumar, Country Director, Jhpiego India said, “The project recognizes the importance of strong, multi-sector collaboration to respond to unmet family planning and reproductive health and rights needs of young people, particularly vulnerable youth populations. This project will shift the power dynamics from health market players to clients (young people) and support an enabling environment for adolescent and youth-friendly health services.”