Budget tracking workshop sharpens accountability efforts by civil society, parliaments, media

28 August, 2013

More than 60 representatives of national parliaments, civil society, ministries of health, media, and development agencies from Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda met this week in Nairobi, Kenya, in a workshop that aimed to build their capacities to undertake budget advocacy for improved women’s and children’s health.

 28 August, 2013

More than 60 representatives of national parliaments, civil society, ministries of health, media, and development agencies from Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda met this week in Nairobi, Kenya, in a workshop that aimed to build their capacities to undertake budget advocacy for improved women’s and children’s health. Countdown to 2015 co-sponsored the workshop, represented by partners from Zambia, Kenya, and the U.S.

Speaker of the Senate of Kenya, Honourable Ekwee Ethuro, inaugurated the meeting on behalf of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, noting that a “national budget is the most important policy tool that a government has.” He urged participants to work together to ensure the existence of appropriate budget lines that are garnished on a regular basis, ensuring strong oversight mechanisms, and pointed to key challenges in this process including access to budget information.

This capacity building workshop, organized by Countdown to 2015, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), WHO, UNICEF, the InterParliamentary Union, Evidence for Action, the East African Community Open Health Initiative, Save the Children, World Vision International, and Family Care International, aimed to:

  • Build the capacity of multi-stakeholder country teams to undertake health budget advocacy

  • Foster greater collaboration among different constituencies that influence budget processes in countries

  • Support the development of budget advocacy strategies that build on the advocacy plans of existing RMNCH or health civil society coalitions

Countdown sponsored this 4-day meeting in support of its work to build the capacity of country-level partners to use data to advocate for stronger policies, increased investment, and greater accountability for reproductive and maternal health. More information about the workshop, and links to its presentations and resources, is available here.