There has been a dynamic consultation process underway around the future of women's, children's and adolescents' health.
Hundreds of stakeholders representing governments, civil society and the private sector have been sharing their voices through a consultative process guided by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health to help shape an updated Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and the new Global Financing Facility. Announced last September at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the GFF aims to mobilize and channel additional domestic and international resources to scale up and sustain efficient and equitable delivery of quality reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services.
The GFF will support the transition to long-term sustainable domestic financing in the highest burden countries. The facility is being developed by the World Bank with a wide range of partners including Norway, the United States and Canada, and will be launched officially in 2015 with the goal of becoming an important financing instrument in support of post-2015 women’s and children’s health.
Partners have been engaging through an online survey and through personal consultations. An online hub includes the survey in English and French as well as resources like a toolkit and initial feedback reports from consultations that have already taken place.
The survey is closing on Dec. 12, so there’s still a window to provide feedback during this initial process. Your voice is important in shaping how the financing mechanism will work — what it will fund, what the priorities for women’s and children’s health should be, what the role of various actors should be, and how we will measure global progress.
This first consultation report to be published next week is timed to contribute to the GFF business plan development process. In March, a broader report will capture input from stakeholders towards the development of an updated GSWCAH to be launched in September 2015 alongside the new sustainable development goals. There will be a number of opportunities to feed into these processes after the initial survey.
The online hub builds upon the successful curation of the conversation around the U.N. General Assembly, known to many as #MDG456Live, to offer a one-stop shop of resources. As we move forward, the hub will become interactive and capture the conversation into 2015.
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About the author
Betsy McCallon
Betsy McCallon joined White Ribbon Alliance in 2004 and served as CEO from 2012 to 2021. She was responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organization and developing plans, a dynamic team and resources to deliver it. Betsy contributed to the growth of the alliance from a loose network to a driver for global attention, as well as commitments to reproductive and maternal health and rights with a focus on national advocacy and accountability.
