LEADER IN GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH & ADVOCACY
Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health
innovation in the fields of family planning, reproductive health, and population dynamics for more than 20 years
Scholarship & Science for Social Change
Gates Institute, housed within a leading academic institution at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has become a global leader in family planning science and scholarship with a long history of engaging and training tomorrow’s leaders.
Learn more about the Gates Institute's rich history by watching the video above
A Global Leader in Family Planning Since 1999
The Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health launched in 1999 in response to a global need for investments in effective family planning and reproductive health programs and research efforts. Building on the Bloomberg School’s global public health leadership, the Institute’s work translates science into action with projects in 22 countries.
Twenty years later, the Institute celebrates progress to date and forges new commitments to increase access to family planning and to improve reproductive health for women and men, communities and countries across the world.
We invest in bold ideas to unlock progress on family planning, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and related health areas.
Facilitating knowledge generation, exchange, and use
The Institute continues to fill critical gaps in knowledge and generate new evidence to address questions that drive social change by pioneering research innovation and improve research methodologies.
Advocacy Wins
Surveys Completed
Implementing Cities
Advance Family Planning
The Advance Family Planning initiative is a paradigm of effective advocacy; its ground-tested AFP SMART approach has transformed the way family planning advocates maximize their time and funds to persuade those in power to take action.
Performance Monitoring for Action
Performance Monitoring for Action project is grounded in an innovative smartphone-based infrastructure that trains and deploys local female data collectors (resident enumerators, or REs), enabling frequent, high-quality generation of actionable data on family planning and other health topics.
The Challenge Initiative
Through The Challenge Initiative, the Gates Institute is scaling up a successful urban reproductive health program to improve voluntary access to contraceptive services, supplies and information among the world's urban poor.
Priority Health Areas
We cultivate new ways of thinking and doing to amplify locally led change. Together with local partners, we identify and act on ideas with the greatest promise to advance universal, equitable access to SRHR and enhance well-being.Advocacy
Initiatives that aim to increase the financial investment and political commitment needed to ensure access to quality, voluntary family planning
COVID-19
Family Planning & Reproductive Health COVID-19 Resources to ensure all continue to receive the quality reproductive healthcare they need
Demographic Dividend
Rapid economic growth from social and economic investments made in health, education, governance, and the economy
Research
Fueling a data revolution to guide family planning programs
Urban Health
A “business unusual” approach to financing, scaling up and sustaining high-impact family planning solutions for the urban poor
Youth
Enabling young people to make informed decisions about family planning and reproductive health
20 Years of Positive Disruptions
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latest news from Gates Institute
- In Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, LGA Leaders Wove Family Planning Into MNCH Week Without Adding a Single Naira
on August 18, 2026When TCI re-engaged Akwa Ibom State in 2026, local government leaders integrated family planning into the state-funded MNCH Week, reaching over 10,000 clients with counselling and recording 7,358 new FP clients at no additional campaign cost.
- When Global Aid Cuts Hit Kenya, One Young Mother Lost Access to Contraception and Control Over Her Future
on August 17, 2026A 21-year-old mother in rural Kenya reveals how global aid cuts and family planning shortages are pushing women toward unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
- From 33% to 100%: How Bhubaneswar, India, Digitized Its Way to Uninterrupted Family Planning Supplies
on August 14, 2026How TCI and Bhubaneswar's frontline health workers took FPLMIS utilization from 33% to 100%, securing family planning supply chains in Odisha.
- Pakistan Scraps Taxes on Contraceptives and Hygiene Products After Year-Long Advocacy Push Across Provincial and National Levels
on August 12, 2026After more than a year of sustained provincial and national advocacy, TCI helped secure landmark tax exemptions on contraceptives and hygiene products in Pakistan's 2026–27 federal budget, paving the way for lower prices and wider access for millions of women and families.
#NextGen FP Leadership
Gates Institute continues to identify, develop, and connect the new generation of family planning leaders through powerful programs and platforms such as the Gates Scholars, the 120 Under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders, Gates Institute Global Health Leadership Accelerator program, the ever-growing, youth-focused opportunities at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), and the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP), which was born out of the 2013 ICFP.Spotlight on Youth Initiatives
The NextGen Catalyst Initiative aims to ensure harmonized efforts to develop and leverage emerging family planning leaders across the world to accelerate the transformation of FP & SRHR program implementation, research and advocacy agendas, as well as scale-up high-impact solutions worldwide.
International Conference on Family Planning
Through the biennial International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), the largest academic conference of its kind, the Gates Institute works with governments and partner organizations to bring together the family planning community to share knowledge and best practices, celebrate successes, and chart a course forward for family planning worldwide.
Inspiring conference days
Countries represented
Global participants
We're committed to inclusion, diversity, anti-racism, and equity.
We are actively working every day to create an anti-racist environment where we fuel our creativity and excellence by cultivating a more equitable, inclusive, and socially just community.
Contact Us
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gatesinstitute@jhu.edu