Options at Women Deliver 2016

Our evening side event on Accountability for Health Results allowed people to learn more about and interact with our work in Nepal, Tanzania and Malawi as well as our regional network and platforms; MamaYe, Africa Health Budget Network, The Girl Generation, MDSR Action Network and African Health Stats. We had interactive booths, shared materials and had inspiring discussions with participants.

Our concurrent session, Using Accountability to Advocate for Girls and Women, discussed the ingredients needed to develop functional accountability mechanisms that monitor, review and act against global and national commitments.  We featured The Girl Generation, MamaYe and the Africa Health Budget Network as examples of accountability in practice for achieving health results. Participants shared their experiences and discussed ways in which we can increase and amplify change. Key messages from the session included:

• Participation and transparency are key drivers of accountability and improved decision making which will help deliver the investment required for women and children to reach their potential.
• We need to make information and evidence on health indicators and outcomes transparent to a variety of stakeholders which can help stimulate action.
• We need to make evidence understandable to a range of different audiences using formats that suit their needs and ensure this evidence is available at the right time, to the right people in the right place to facilitate better decision-making, tracking of progress and achievement of results.
• We can all play a role in taking action and tackling pressing health challenges, including ending FGM, improving maternal and newborn survival and ensuring government commitments to health budgets and outcomes. It’s important to engage everybody from policy makers to the public!
• Accountability operates at multiple levels – global, regional, national, community and diaspora level.
• Accountability needs to be local driven and owned.

The Girl Generation in partnership with The Orchid Project held a side event to highlight the ways in which activists can hold their governments to account on their commitments made on ending FGM in the Sustainable Development Goals, where it is now a target.