Options celebrates 30 years of impact

I’ve been lucky enough to join Options as Managing Director in its 30th year. This means I’m in a privileged position to look at where we’ve come from and where we’re headed.

Looking back, Options has achieved a huge amount over the last three decades. Driven by the need to make health care accessible and affordable for women and girls, we have had a significant impact on the lives of vulnerable and marginalised groups across the world.

Our work to strengthen health systems has seen us partner with government in more than 60 countries, at both national and sub-national level, to improve access to – and quality of – health services for their citizens. Just one example of is our work UK aid-funded work in Nepal, where we’ve been embedded in the government since 1997.

After the devastating earthquakes in 2015, we supported the country to restore essential health services at 851 facilities in 14 affected districts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we set-up treatment wards ensuring access to timely care, and enabled women to continue to access vital maternal and newborn health services. Our efforts to improve public investment in heath across seven countries have led to an increase of $152 million additional budget for health annually and $15 million for family planning since 2019, with 809,000 unintended pregnancies and 2,500 maternal deaths estimated to be averted by 2030.

As well as working with governments, we support communities to hold those in power to account. Nothing demonstrates this better than our Evidence for Action (E4A) – MamaYe programme. Originally funded by UK aid, we focused on improving access to quality maternal and newborn health services. Now supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we work with civil society groups, government and health practitioners to identify evidence-based solutions to improve the health of women and children in Kenya and Nigeria. For example, our successful advocacy for a matched funding arrangement between government and donors resulted in a 375% increased budget allocation for family planning from US$2 million to US$7.5 million in Kenya.

Alongside systems, we help drive social change. Following on from the five year The Girl Generation programme, we’re now one of the key partners in the Africa-led movement to end FGM/C. Our team in Kenya are at the forefront of the advocacy and campaigning work to end this violation of human rights against girls. We’re providing grants for grassroots organisations and activists, supporting mental health awareness for survivors and campaigners, and enabling global advocacy to strengthen the ‘end FGM/C’ movement.

But urgent action is still needed to protect the health and livelihoods of women, girls and marginalised groups.

Climate change threatens weak health systems and disproportionally affects the most vulnerable.

Global health security to prepare us for future health emergencies like COVID-19 needs to be at the top of government agendas.

And universal health coverage is key to building a more inclusive, just and equitable world.

I believe we’re in the best position to drive change. With our highly skilled national technical experts embedded in the systems where we work, we understand the specific contexts, and work closely with our partners to find the levers of change to support locally-driven, practical solutions that deliver lasting impact.