Unmet need for Family Planning (FP) in 7 national development areas in Indonesia

Introduction: Unmet need for Family Planning (FP) was conducted to measure the achievement of the FP program. Since decentralization, each region has the flexibility to implement certain policies according to regional needs, including family planning program policies. This study aimed to describe the unmet need for FP in 7 regions in Indonesia in 2018-2021. Methods: This research is an ecological study using data derived from the National Population and Family Planning Agency Field Control Report in 2018-2021 and descriptively analyzed based on 7 development areas of the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan. Unmet need for FP is the percentage of married couples whose wife is between the ages of 15 to 49 years and aren’t using contraception, those who still wanted children but have postponed it for up to 2 years and those who decided that they didn’t want any more children. Result: The results showed that the unmet need for FP in the Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua regions continued to decline in 2018-2021. The largest decrease in unmet need for FP occurred in Papua (7.6%) while the smallest decrease occurred in Sumatra (0.9%). Conclusion: The magnitude of the decrease in the unmet need for FP varies by region. Region-specific FP program interventions are needed to increase the need for contraception in couples of childbearing age (EFA).