Parliaments lead the change for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health: what have we learnt?

• Published in: BMJ global health Vol. 6; no. 2; p. e003615
• Main Authors: Toure, Kadidiatou, Cuevas, Gabriela, Hinton, Rachael, Imbago, David, Karlsson, Ulrika, Rocco, Cecilia, Sangiorgio, Miriam, Nsubuga, Diana, Chungong, Martin, Fogstad, Helga, Bustreo, Flavia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01.02.2021; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Accountability; Advocacy; Budgets; Children & youth; Childrens health; Civil society; Collaboration; Committees; Community; Decision making; Gender; Global health; Health administration; Health facilities; Leadership; Legislation; Literature reviews; Maternal & child health; Members of Parliament; Parliamentary committees; Public health; Teenagers; Women; Workers; Workforce; Uganda; Kenya; United States > US; Namibia; maternal health; health policy; child health; public health
• ISSN: 2059-7908; 2059-7908
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003615

[...]the Parliamentarians for Women’s Health project acts in Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana to inspire and support parliamentary champions to drive policy and legislative change as a means of improving health outcomes.13 Lack of parliamentary independence can affect the way in which parliamentarians exercise their statutory functions which also has implications for WCAH outcomes. Citizen’s voices and MPs’ responsibility to their constituents The Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Civil Society Advocacy Coalition led by World Vision Uganda and the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation, and supported in part by Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health organised live testimonies during advocacy engagements, allowing women to describe the impact of the health worker shortage on their own and their children’s health. The money for recruitment enabled the addition of over 6000 more medical workers.39 Gender balance in parliament can drive improvements in WCAH There is a positive correlation between representation of women in parliaments and health outcomes, especially in WCAH. [...]a global study on female political representation notes a positive correlation between increased numbers of women parliamentarians and reduced child mortality.16 A study in Pakistan noted that, although women accounted for only one quarter of MPs, they raised five times more parliamentary questions on health than their male counterparts.17 Additionally, community-based health assessments in Kenya and Namibia showed that female parliamentarians had greater knowledge and understanding of women’s health issues than male parliamentarians, possibly explaining their different levels of engagement with the issue.18 Parliaments represent the interests of all citizens19 and are therefore responsible for achieving gender balance, which has been shown to improve health outcomes.