While the activities of ReProductive Aid have ended as of January 2009, the forum remains open to new members and contributions. If you care about these issues, your participation is welcome!
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In recent years, donors have been restructuring how development aid is delivered to poor countries, with increased direct budget support to governments, “harmonized” poverty reduction strategies (PRS), and Sector-Wide Approaches (SWAps). Many of these aid instruments are non-transparent and/or confusing to civil society advocates for sexual and reproductive health (SRH). In order to actively shape and influence a country government’s spending agenda, SRH advocates need to clearly understand the new aid environment and its instruments and mechanisms.
ReProductive Aid is an internet-based global community of civil society representatives networking, learning, sharing experiences and strategizing effective ways to address SRH in the new development aid “architecture”.
ReProductive Aid wants to know: How can civil society organizations - in their roles of advocates, service providers and policy/implementation watchdogs - actively influence donors at country level to increase resources for SRH services?
During ReProductive Aid Phase I, the community followed numerous topics in its online discussions, including:
- “Accra, Aid Effectiveness and Reproductive Health”
One of the main topics of the Accra High Level Forum 2-4 September was donor harmonization and aid effectiveness. How have these topics affected funding for RH? Have any donors left your country or stopped funding any sectors as a result of donor coordination? Did the Accra conference outcomes help in any way?
- “Poverty Reduction Strategies and Reproductive Health”
Many years ago, the donor community embraced the idea that World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) could be the central organizing force for donor coordination. Has that process affected RH funding in any way? Have RH CSOs participated in the development, monitoring and/or implementation of the PRS(s) in your country?
- “Budget Support and Reproductive Health”
Budget support has become increasingly important as a European aid instrument: The European Commission (EC), the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark and Germany are raising the proportion of aid spent through General BS. How much budget support does your country receive? Do you know how it is negotiated and implemented? Has the national health and SRH budget increased or decreased since budget support?
These online discussions culminated in a web-based Global Video Conference conducted on 29 October, 2008.
With the support of WHO and the distinguished, international ReProductive Aid Steering Committee, DSW convened a successful global video conference with sites in Belgium, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda and the UK. The event linked some 80 RH professionals, parliamentarians, ministry officials and civil society representatives to share their knowledge, experience and personal insights on how to increase funding for reproductive health in the new aid architecture.
Excellent keynote speeches were contributed by Dr. Eckhard Deutscher, Chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee; Dr. Christoph Benn, Director, Partnership, Communication and Resource Mobilization for the GFATM and Dr. Gill Greer, Director General of IPPF. Regional speakers included representatives of USAID, UNFPA, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Asian Forum for Parliamentarians in Population and Development, the Uganda Regional Director of Partners for Population and Development, and a Member of the Uganda Parliament.
You can view the recording here
ReProductive Aid is supported by WHO, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, and guided by a distinguished Steering Committee of leading advocates from Africa, Asia and Europe:
Boemo Sekgoma, Southern Africa Development Community, Botswana
Dale Huntington, WHO, Switzerland
Frank Reimann, CARE, Lao PDR
Harry Jooseery, Partners in Population and Development, Bangladesh
Jotham Musinguzi, Partners in Population and Development, Uganda
Karen Hoehn, German Foundation for World Population (DSW), Belgium
Maggie Usher-Patel, WHO, Switzerland
Mel Adisu, DSW, Ethiopia
Shiv Khare, Asian Parliamentary Forum for Population and Development, Thailand
Sin Somuny, Medi-Cam, Cambodia
