Partner Spotlight: Africa Heath Budget Network (AHBN)

This month, we are proud to spotlight the Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN), a member of the PMNCH NGO constituency that promotes greater financial accountability, transparency and health allocations in Africa, by enabling non-governmental and civil society organizations to influence country investments meaningfully. 

Based in Nigeria, AHBN was founded to build budget advocacy mechanisms to improve health indices towards achieving the SDGs. With a membership base now throughout Africa, they conduct trainings in budget analysis, translate complex documents into user-friendly messages, offer opportunities for peer learning and information exchange, and provide much-needed funding through sub-grants. 

In collaboration with PMNCH partners, AHBN is playing a pivotal role in supporting the government of Nigeria as the coordinating partner under the PMNCH-coordinated  Country Advocacy Action Plans (CAAP) initiative. The CAAP initiative aims to provide a convening platform for in-country partners to align on advocacy and accountability efforts to accelerate progress on the implementation of commitments towards the SDG3 targets, expediting the reduction of maternal, neonatal, and child mortality while advancing SRHR and adolescent well-being (AWB). The efforts in Nigeria are well aligned with and complement the Federal Ministry of Health’s efforts to enhance coordination in the health sector through the adoption of the Sector Wide Approach.

As part of the CAAP process in Nigeria, AHBN has supported the convening of strategic advocacy dialogues with the Federal Ministry of Health and key development partners, including civil society organizations and others that are underrepresented in national policy process such as young people, journalists and community members through the National Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent and Elderly Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) Platform.

AHBN has coordinated a multi-constituency process to map 148 policy, financial and service delivery commitments made by the Government of Nigeria towards ameliorating MNCH, SRHR and AWB issues. These pledges have been made at different fora including the General Assembly of the United Nations (SDGs) , the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) Nairobi Summit in 2019, Family Planning 2030, the Global Forum for Adolescents to name a few. These commitments have been domesticated through key national policies and strategic plans such as the National Health Policy, National Gender Policy and National Youth Policy among others.

A partner-led review of the implementation status of these commitments indicates that successive governments have prioritized the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents (WCA) especially through investments related to strengthening health systems to deliver quality health services from an equity perspective through a primary health care approach. Furthermore, there is alignment and coherence between the policy/financing and service delivery thrusts as well goals and targets articulated in national documents and the pledges made by the Government of Nigeria.

However, with only a few years to meet the SDG targets in this era of poly-crisis,  implementation of these commitments can be accelerated through i) increased budget allocations and timely budget releases,  ii) enhanced domestic resource mobilization to reduce reliance on donor funding, and iii) strengthening the adaptation and adoption of some of the key commitments at the subnational levels including States and Local Government Areas, where implementation of health polices and guidelines is carried out. These considerations and findings are informing the development of the  Collaborative Advocacy Action Plan which aims to rally partners’ advocacy efforts to advance accountability for key commitments.

AHBN has been an active member of PMNCH since its launch at the Partners Forum in 2014.  Special thanks to its leader and founder, Aminu Magashi Garba and his colleagues, Khadija Hamid Bobboyi and Amina Haladu Muhammad, in particular.  Dr. Garba has served on several PMNCH committees and working groups.  He is currently an NGO Board Member and a member of the Advocacy and Partner Engagement Committee.

As we move towards the implementation of the Collaborative Advocacy Action Plan, we invite Nigeria- based partners to support the efforts being coordinated by AHBN. For more information or to indicate your interest, please join the  Nigeria Country Hub.