POLICY II PROJECT: NETWORKING FOR POLICY CHANGE—WHAT WORKS POLICY (June 2006)  Full Document (English)      Order for free      email to me  Policy change is influenced by several factors, including the issue, context, process, and actors. This paper presents case studies of networks in 11 countries assisted by the POLICY Project to demonstrate how reproductive health advocacy networks were influential actors that played a role in fostering significant policy changes over the past decade. In 1995, with the launch of the POLICY Project, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sought to put the principles of meaningful participation and civil society engagement in family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) policymaking—as articulated during the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development—into practice. The objective of POLICY was to create an enabling environment for the formulation and implementation of policies and plans that promote and sustain access to high-quality FP/RH, HIV, and maternal health services. USAID and POLICY recognized that civil society-led networks and coalitions could play a significant role in encouraging political commitment for FP/RH, facilitating broader stakeholder participation in policy processes, and ensuring improved quality of and equitable access to services. Reproductive health advocacy networks, therefore, became a critical mechanism for POLICY in its efforts to promote participation of civil society groups and other partners in the health policy arena.