This panel, led by in-country research partners, highlights key lessons emerging across nine countries that have been identified as positive outliers on the topics of maternal health, neonatal health, and family planning. The three panelists will focus on research findings from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, and Senegal, specifically spotlighting factors that have contributed towards progress in these countries. The presentations will cover:

1. Interrelated distal, intermediate, and proximal drivers contribute towards declines in neonatal and maternal mortality in Exemplar countries. Key drivers typically contribute towards progress in a stepwise manner as countries progress through a transition from higher mortality to lower mortality. Lessons from Exemplars can provide useful insights for peer countries looking to emulate the successes of Exemplar countries.

2. Family planning in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has generally made substantial progress in recent decades, but select LMICs have demonstrated exemplary progress. This analysis considers drivers of change in family planning within specific geographies, alongside a global analysis of drivers for family planning. In tandem, this work contributes valuable insights from positive outliers that can be useful for other countries looking to achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal related to healthy lives and well-being.

3. Voluntary family planning empowers people to freely decide whether and when to have children and is also a key upstream contributor to improved health outcomes for mothers and children. Lessons from Exemplars demonstrate the importance of empowering women and improving access to quality health care services along the continuum of reproductive health.