Commission on Information and Accountability

for Women’s and Children’s Health

accountability commission

woman and children
The World Health Organization has launched a new web site on results, resources and oversight related to women's and children's health, in support of Every Woman Every Child. The site will track progress on the implementation of the recommendations of the Accountability Commission and inform the international community about the work of the independent Expert Review Group (iERG).

Every Woman Every Child, the effort in support of the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, has generated unprecedented commitments from governments, philanthropic institutions and other funders, the United Nations and multilateral organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations, the business community, health-care workers and professionals, and academic and research institutions around the world to reverse and end the unjust deaths and ill health women and children face. These commitments demonstrate that women's and children's health is now a priority on both national and international agendas.

Ambitious commitments made by a range of actors focus on three strategic areas:

 

  • Reducing financial barriers,
  • Creating a stronger policy environment towards women's and children's health, and
  • Strengthening and improving the delivery of health services.

 

New commitments in support of Every Woman Every Child represent a major step towards filling the gap between the investment needed and what is currently provided for women's and children's health. These investments will be measured and tracked to ensure accountability for commitments, actions and results.

Going forward - all partners are challenged to build on this initial set of commitments – and to translate them into concrete action and measurable results for women and children.

The Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health Report called for the World Health Organization (WHO) to chair a process to determine the most effective international institutional arrangements for ensuring global reporting, oversight and accountability on women's and children's health.

In response, a Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health was created, which proposed a framework for global reporting, oversight and accountability on women's and children's health. Through ten recommendations presented in its report Keeping Promises, Measuring Results, the Commission has created a system to track whether donations for women's and children's health are made on time, resources are spent wisely and transparently, and whether the desired results are achieved.

The accountability framework proposed by the Commission will:

 

  • Track results and resource flows at global and country levels;
  • Identify a core set of indicators and measurement needs for women's and children's health;
  • Propose steps to improve health information and registration of vital events - births and deaths - in low-income countries;
  • Explore opportunities for innovation in information technology to improve access to reliable information on resources and outcomes.