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Annual Report 2021
Helga Fogstad, Executive Director
Looking back to where we were at the start of 2021, we were full of cautious optimism, encouraged by the promise of a vaccine for COVID-19 and a return to normality. Vaccination campaigns took off, countries began to loosen restrictions, and there was a tangible feeling that an end was in sight. However, this optimism quickly faded due to the unequal distribution of vaccines and the widening gap between the haves and have nots, including worsening inequities in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health outcomes. Exacerbating an already difficult year was the increasing conflict and unrest in several places worldwide, which disproportionately affect women, children and adolescents. All these challenges only motivated us to work even harder.
PMNCH’s role continues to be crystal clear: to keep women, children and adolescents at the centre of all COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, using this as an opportunity to tackle head-on injustices and inequities in the interest of achieving better health and well-being for women, children and adolescents. Through our Call to Action on COVID-19 we mobilized a record US$ 32 billion by the end of 2021, and many governments pledged to prioritize women, children and adolescents in their response and recovery efforts.
In securing these commitments we strengthened partner engagement in countries to drive more responsive and equity-enhancing policies, financing and service delivery. To ensure that those policy decisions are informed by what community members need and want, we amplified the voices of people affected by the pandemic. The Finding Hope project documented the experiences of over 30 000 people, mainly women and young people, in 43 Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean countries. The findings have informed programme responses to COVID-19 in several of these countries, and have been shared globally through our events and digital media.
Another 2021 highlight was our work around realizing young people’s right to actively engage in all matters that affect their lives. We made significant progress in ensuring that young people have leadership roles across PMNCH’s operations and governance structures and that all our 1250+ member organizations have the knowledge and capacity to implement the Global Consensus Statement on Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement.
Together, our partners are the engine that powers our work. Bolstered by a 17% membership increase in 2021, we redoubled our efforts to enhance partner capacity for joint advocacy, meaningful inclusion and greater accountability. PMNCH relaunched our website with a brand update and invested in digital technologies to scale up the speed and reach of our evidence-based advocacy, including equipping and enabling our partners to engage better with each other. Our new digital platform will continue to evolve with more interactive features and tools in 2022, enabling partners to collaborate more widely and meaningfully with each other.
I am humbled and greatly motivated by the sheer dedication we saw in 2021. But this is not the time to rest on our laurels; we need more collective action and mobilization to achieve impact at scale. We need not only to build back better for women, children and adolescents but to build forward more equitably, intentionally and effectively.
We all have a role to play. I urge our members, partners and anyone who sees themselves as a stakeholder in our work for women, children and adolescents to join us in building upon the powerful platform that PMNCH provides. You can find more information on how to engage with us here.