Strengthening health outcomes by integrating gender into advocacy work: Evidence for Action-MamaYe impact story

From 2012 to 2024, Evidence for Action (E4A)-MamaYe worked through locally led coalitions across sub-Saharan Africa to advance reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH). With support from FCDO, the Gates Foundation and management by Options, these coalitions brought government, civil society, media, and health professionals together to hold decision-makers accountable to their commitments and advocate for better health outcomes.

In its final phase, the programme took steps to more strongly integrate gender equality at the heart of its advocacy work. Through strategic partnerships, training and mentoring, and a focus on inclusive leadership, E4A-MamaYe challenged harmful gender norms, strengthened the voice and participation of women, and transformed the way health advocacy is done.

This work was supported by the Global Center for Gender Equality (GCfGE), which played a key role throughout the process — conducting an initial assessment on how gender dynamics influenced coalition work, providing guidance and recommendations for gender integration, and more recently, leading a case study to capture the impact of these efforts.

This case study explores how coalitions:

• Improved RMNCAH outcomes through gender-transformative advocacy
• Increased women’s participation and leadership in coalitions
• Strengthened coalitions’ capacity for gender-integrated health advocacy

The story of E4A-MamaYe has shown the value and potential of gender transformative advocacy and accountability to advance RMNCAH outcomes.