Mobius’s current project Aakar: Involving couples in the path towards stabilising population

A small family is a happy family. A society with happy families is a sustainable society.

Population and poverty have a correlation, as overpopulated societies would find it difficult to share available natural resources, food, education, and health care, among other things.  A sustainable society is one with a stable population. It will lead to equality and prosperity.

India is committed to promoting population stabilisation as part of sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

To this end, the Aakar project, established by Mobius Foundation, runs several outreach programmes to counsel women and couples planning to start families.  The foundation also organises a monthly Happy Family Day, or Khushal Pariwar Divas, to create awareness about sustainable population.

Aakar is being implemented in two districts of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. More than 200 villages across 27 blocks are being covered in coordination with the district family welfare department for carrying outreach exercises at the village level. 

The focus is on targeted counselling and reaching out more to eligible couples in order to expand the services and reach of the project.

Aakar's awareness programme is now tailored towards targeting individual couples than mass counselling, for better impact and results.

Family planning counselling is being done with the help of Asha Aanganwadi and other female volunteers at the village level.

Male volunteers associated with the project have established relationship with males within village communities.

In an innovative intervention method to expand the reach of project Aakar, counselling is done to lactating mothers seeking health services at government hospitals, community health centres and primary health care providers.

Data of people who counsel for vasectomy is also collected by volunteers and counsellors.

The data is shared with the district level authorities.              

Khushal Parivar Diwas: A day for a happy family

National Health Mission (NHM), Uttar Pradesh, is promoting family planning from the viewpoint of beneficiaries.

NHM and health ministry marks 21st of every month as Khushal Parivar Diwas, or happy family day, to create an informal ecosystem around family planning to reach out to young men and women. Mobius Foundation is collaborating with the state government as a partner for organising these monthly events.

The focus is to inform and empower future parents. On this day, various activities are organised to promote family planning at health units from the state to the village level.
Based on the guidelines of NHM, Mobius Foundation organised Khushaal Parivar diwas, and family planning camp was set up in community health centres.

More than 100 people visited the camp and 50 couples were counselled on family planning. Pahal kits were given to newly married couples by CHC’s counsellor. The kits consist of contraceptive pills, condoms, a mirror, two towels, handkerchiefs, bindi, comb, nail cutter and a dossier educating the newlyweds about family planning.