Population Council | Frontiers in Reproductive Health

FRONTIERS
About FRONTIERS

Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) is a program that conducts research aimed at improving the delivery of family planning and reproductive health services in developing countries. FRONTIERS focuses on operations research (OR), which uses systematic research techniques to improve service delivery and influence related policies. FRONTIERS is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and led by the Population Council in collaboration with Family Health International. FRONTIERS staff and collaborating organizations conduct research in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, Europe and Eurasia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Over the past seven years FRONTIERS has launched over 180 research projects investigating a broad array of reproductive health issues in 42 countries. Projects have been conducted at various scales, including country-level studies, linked studies on issues affecting specific regions, and multi-country studies that examine themes of global importance. In the coming years the program will focus on supporting the continuation of proven strategies, disseminating lessons learned, and enhancing the utilization of research findings for the development of programs and policies.

The twenty-first century presents major challenges in reproductive health: increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections, persistent high rates of maternal mortality, new groups of clients, and competing financial demands from many sectors. Many of the solutions to these challenges can be identified through evidence-based programs such as operations research. It is vital not only to identify the best ways of addressing critical reproductive health issues, but also to ensure that clients truly benefit from these innovations. To that end FRONTIERS efforts concentrate on the following focus areas:

Increasing access to affordable and high-quality services
Ensuring availability of contraceptive options
Integrating family planning with other reproductive health services
Meeting needs of emerging client populations, such as youth and men
Enhancing the capacity of researchers, program managers, and policymakers to conduct research and use the findings that result
Broadening the culture of evidence-based decisionmaking