Photo credit: Amref Health Africa, Malawi
Madame Doreen Namagetsi Ali Director of Reproductive Health Services; Mr. Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu Amref Malawi Country Director; Dr. Samson Kwazizira Mndolo, Secretary for Health, and Dr. Matthews Ngwale, Chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Health at Malawi’s Digital Advocacy Hub Launch at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC)
This month we are proud to spotlight the Government of Malawi, a member of the PMNCH Partner Governments constituency and Amref Health Africa Malawi, a member of the PMNCH NGO constituency for their outstanding work on the PMNCH-coordinated Collaborative Advocacy Action Plans (CAAP) initiative.
The CAAP initiative is a collaborative effort between PMNCH and partners, driven by the urgency to address health challenges exacerbated by the “Triple C” crisis (Covid-19, conflict, climate change) and existing gaps in health. The initiative is aimed towards improved accountability and advocacy for commitment implementation related to women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH). The process involves an inclusive, partner-led scoping and assessment of government commitments on WCAH in each participating country. Based on this evidence, partners then identify a set of advocacy actions to be undertaken collaboratively by stakeholders to improve the quality and implementation of existing WCAH commitments, while responding to the need for new commitments where critical gaps exist. The process has been designed to (i) gain better knowledge of gaps to guide new commitments and accountability efforts; (ii) strengthen implementation of existing WCAH commitments and multi-stakeholder platforms overseeing these (iii) improve accountability for progress. To date, CAAPs have been initiated in 10 countries, largely in sub-Saharan Africa, and the process has been actively coordinated by a range of civil society partners, including Amref Health Africa Malawi.
Amref Health Africa has worked in Malawi since 2012 and has over 60 years of experience across Africa. Amref’s vision is to create a lasting health change in Africa, including Malawi, with its vital mission to catalyze and drive community-led and people-centered health systems while addressing the social determinants of health. The primary target populations for Amref’s efforts are women and young people.
In collaboration with PMNCH and partners, Amref Health Africa Malawi has played a pivotal role in engaging the Ministry of Health, in particular the Directorate for Reproductive Health, in advancing advocacy and accountability for WCAH under the CAAP initiative. Emanating from the CAAP initiative, the Directorate for Reproductive Health has committed to convene a multi-stakeholder platform annually to review the progress on various commitments that the Government of Malawi has made regarding WCAH.
As noted in the commitment mapping exercise, the Government of Malawi has made well over 60 global, regional, and national commitments around maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and adolescent health and well-being (AHWB). Malawi’s commitments are reflected across numerous global and regional platforms such as Sustainable Development Goals, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) Nairobi Summit in 2019, (filter by country/Malawi), Family Planning 2030, the PMNCH coordinated Adolescents Wellbeing Commitment, and many others.
The mapping report also revealed where attention and implementation could be further strengthened. Despite progress made, including reduced maternal, newborn, and child mortality, greater acceleration is required to reach 2030 targets related to the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents. In order to improve the quality and implementation of commitments, five advocacy goals have been identified as outlined below to advocate for:
Increase health financing: Advocate for the government to honor the Abuja declaration to allocate 15% of national budget towards health. Within the national health budget, Ministry of Health to increase reproductive maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health budgetary allocation to 30% by 2030.
Reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality: Advocate for the government of Malawi to accelerate progress in reducing maternal, newborn and childbirth mortality, guided by the implementation of the 2024 World Health Assembly MNCH resolution and in line with agreed MNH Acceleration plan.
Reduce unmet family planning needs: Advocate for the Ministry of Health to reduce unmet family planning needs for all women to below 11% by 2030.
Reduce teen childbearing and end child marriage: Undertake advocacy activities for Malawi to reduce teen childbearing from 29% to 20% and end child marriages by 2030.
Ensure youth representation in decision making bodies: Advocate for the government to include 30% representation of youth in decision-making bodies.
Together with PMNCH, Amref Health Africa Malawi developed a digital advocacy hub, an integral tool for the newly established Multi-Stakeholder Platform, which aims to monitor the implementation progress of national commitment and foster collaboration among all stakeholders. This effort has been supported by Parliamentary Committee Chairperson Dr. Matthews Ngwale. We invite all Malawi- based partners to join the hub (HERE).
We look forward to our continued engagement with Amref Health Africa and partners in Malawi to accelerate progress for women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health in Malawi.
We extend our special appreciation to the Honorable Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Minister of Health, and the Reproductive Health Services Director, Madame Doreen Namagetsi Ali, for the Department of Reproductive Health Services stewardship of the Collaborative Advocacy Action Plan initiative and leadership of the newly established Multi-Stakeholder Platform. We extend our sincere thanks to the Amref Country Director, Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu and the Amref Malawi team for their strong leadership and partnership.
To engage with the Government of Malawi, follow them on X, Facebook and Instagram. To engage with Amref Health Malawi, follow them on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn .
Source link : https://pmnch.who.int/news-and-events/news/item/11-10-2024-partner-spotlight-on-the-government-of-malawi-and-amref-health-africa-malawi
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Publish date : 2024-10-11 10:16:03
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