Elements of Family Planning Success

The cell phone is changing life in Africa in ways we never could have predicted.

This case study explores the lessons learned in using cell phone technology as a powerful tool to share information on family planning and reproductive health to men and women alike. Learn how cell phones have been included in the health education toolkit in a country devoid of a communications infrastructure, including standard telephone networks.

Population Services International (PSI) and partner Association de Sante Familiale use an array of communication channels to spread accurate information on family planning and contraceptive methods as part of their Family Planning Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of these channels is the cell phone hotline, or la Ligne Verte, the first of its kind in the nation. PSI's Ligne Verte allows cell callers to speak confidentially to trained mobile educators in Kinshasa, to ask about methods and side effects, and to get referrals to clinics or sales points in the callers' own neighborhoods.