Stronger Partnerships, Better Health Outcomes: Uniting Parliament and Civil Society for Health Financing Accountability

“When parliament and civil society work together, we can achieve stronger accountability and better health outcomes.”

This powerful statement by Hon. Abena Osei-Asare MP captures the core of a critical conversation held yesterday during a targeted ‘bootcamp’ session for health advocates. Timed just one day ahead of the International Day of Parliamentarism, celebrated today 30 June, the session focused on a vital but often overlooked driver of Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Public Financial Management (PFM) and the collaboration needed to make it work.

From Paper Commitments to Real Healthcare

African governments have made various significant commitments regarding health financing, including the Abuja Declaration and the Africa Leadership Meeting (ALM) commitments, which aim to increase domestic allocations for health. However, a commitment on paper only becomes actual healthcare when money is allocated well, released on time, spent as intended, and audited by the end-users of health programs.

This is the essence of Public Financial Management. Governments need to apply rigorous PFM to successfully execute and increase national health budgets to achieve UHC. But governments cannot do this in a vacuum; there must be formal, accessible avenues for civil society organizations (CSOs) to hold decision-makers to account. When communities and civil society can effectively “follow the money,” health financing works harder and goes further.

Insights from the Bootcamp: Parliament and CSO Collaboration

Yesterday’s bootcamp session explored exactly how to bridge this gap. Hon. Abena Osei-Asare shared her deep expertise, drawing on her role as the Acting Chairperson of the African Organization of Public Accounts Committees (AFROPAC), an institution dedicated to promoting good governance, accountability, and transparency in the management of public resources across Africa.

Drawing on her close experience working with advocacy groups, Hon. Abena highlighted the essential contributions that civil society brings to PFM oversight, such as providing on-the-ground evidence, representing and amplifying citizen voices, and conducting independent monitoring.

To take this collaboration to the next level, she outlined several key opportunities to enhance civil society involvement in PFM:

• Institutionalizing Parliament-CSO engagement to create permanent, formal channels for dialogue.
• Increasing citizen participation in the budget and oversight processes.
• Introducing digital audit tracking for better transparency.
• Expanding peer learning across different countries and networks.

About the Joint Learning Agenda (JLA)

This bootcamp was delivered as part of the Joint Learning Agenda (JLA) on Health Financing, a capacity-strengthening initiative co-led by WACI Health and Impact Santé Afrique (ISA), and supported by The Global Fund.

The JLA is designed to equip civil society organizations across Africa to actively engage in health financing and PFM advocacy. Through the program, participants undertake a targeted stream of PFM training to embed critical tools, principles, and practices directly into their CSO advocacy efforts. Phase 3 equips these organizations to engage at every single stage of the budget cycle: helping them understand complex financial documents, track spending, and demand accountability.

• Impact to Date: Phases 1 and 2 successfully reached more than 400 CSOs across 20 anglophone and francophone African countries.
• Looking Ahead: Phase 3, running through December 2026, expands this vital work to 22 countries. It builds upon established structures, including quarterly capacity-strengthening bootcamps, a digital Community of Practice platform, and a comprehensive Toolkit on the Conceptual Framework for Citizen and Civil Society Engagement to strengthen CSO participation in national budget processes.

A Call to Action

This International Day of Parliamentarism, we celebrate the immense potential of parliamentary and civil society collaboration. We call on parliamentarians across Africa to formalize and protect channels for CSO engagement in public finance oversight.

Stronger accountability starts with stronger partnerships. And stronger accountability leads to better health outcomes for everyone.