CATALYST Consortium
The CATALYST Consortium is a global reproductive health activity initiated in September 2000 by the Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Consortium is a partnership of five organizations: the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), Meridian Group International, Inc., Pathfinder International and PROFAMILIA/Colombia.
CATALYST works in sexual and reproductive health through synergistic partnerships and state-of-the-art technical leadership. Its overall strategic objective is to increase the use of sustainable, quality family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services and healthy practices through clinical and non-clinical programs. Results are measured by:
- Increased access to and improved quality of FP/RH clinical and non-clinical programs
- Increased capacity for informed FP/RH decision-making by clients and communities
- Increased capacity of public and private sectors to sustain quality FP/RH programs, and
- Scaled-up and improved FP/RH service delivery through technical assistance to other agency/donor/foundation programs.
CATALYST's multilingual and multidisciplinary staff and partners draw on approaches and techniques from various areas of expertise. To achieve these results, the CATALYST staff:
- Provides technical leadership to improve clinical and non-clinical services in sexual and reproductive health
- Complements bilateral programs through application of best practices, innovations and lessons learned from other projects and countries
- Assists local groups to scale up successful program models and interventions
- Creates opportunities for South-to-South technical assistance and collaboration
- Creates linkages between health and nonhealth programs to provide an environment that supports women's decision-making about their reproductive health, e.g., links with literacy, political participation and economic empowerment
- Establishes technical collaboration among USAID Missions, USAID Cooperating Agencies, U.S. foundations and other donors to help ensure the quality and sustainability of family planning and reproductive health programs
- Expands FP/RH services through partnerships with private commercial sector and nongovernmental organizations, in order to address the unmet needs of men, youth and underserved populations
As of January 2004, CATALYST has seven field offices (Bolivia, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru and Yemen) and supports USAID programs in over 15 countries in Southeast and South Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
