THE CITIZENS HEARINGS A TOOLKIT to aid speaking up for Women s, Children s, Adolescents and Newborns Health

THE CITIZENS HEARINGS A TOOLKIT to aid speaking up for Women s, Children s, Adolescents and Newborns Health

2 Citizens Hearings Toolkit THE CITIZENS HEARINGS There have been huge advances in health, education, and the fight against poverty during the lifespan of the Millennium Development Goals; and although there have been big successes, many of the goals will not be reached. There have been criticisms of the ownership and accountability for the goals Members of Parliament, citizens and civil society had limited involvement in setting the agenda for the goals and there was no clear accountability mechanism. We as members of civil society have a responsibility to hold governments to account for their failures and push for more successes. During early 2015, IPPF, Save the Children, the White Ribbon Alliance and World Vision are joining with partners to host community and national Citizens Hearings - as well as a global Citizens Hearing during the World Health Assembly. We will call governments to account for their delivery on MDGs 4 and 5, and push for a strong accountability framework in the new Every Woman Every Child strategy and within the Sustainable Development Goals, with citizens and civil society taking a lead role in the process. Join us in this exciting project helping civil society and citizens to hold governments to account! Contents National Citizens Hearing 3 Global Citizens Hearing 4 The Citizens Hearings will bring together community and government leaders to listen to, and act on, the views of citizens on national priorities for women s, children s and newborns health. Planning a National Citizens Hearing 5 Reporting Outcomes 8 Contacts For Sharing Outcomes 8

Health should be at the centre of sustainable development (...) Accountability will be an important part of the new development agenda. Ban Ki-Moon, May 2014 At the UN General Assembly in September 2015 the final Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets will be released and the new Global Strategy for Women s and Children s Health will be announced. The post-2015 framework will be a voluntary, non-binding set of goals for governments to deliver. How well they are delivered indeed, even if they are delivered depends on citizens and civil society s involvement in holding them to account. There are clear opportunities for influencing the accountability mechanisms for the next round of proposed goals and targets, both at the national and global levels. As the world transitions into the new framework, there are a number of questions: - What do the proposed targets on women s, children s and newborns health actually mean in the national context? - How does this fit with current commitments and roadmaps in each country? - How do we learn from the shortfalls of the MDGs and the weak accountability framework? We want to ensure that civil society and champions of women s, children s and newborns health in parliament are answering these questions and setting the accountability mechanisms to keep governments on track with their promises. National Citizens Hearings We will hold Citizens Hearings in communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America. We will show Heads of State and community leaders what civil society and citizens, in each country, want accountability to look like in the updated Global Strategy for Women s and Children s Health and the SDGs. The Hearings will be public and ambitious engaging people across the world in a transparent and accessible way. Core objectives of national Citizens Hearings: 1Discuss the new targets for women s, children s and newborns health being negotiated within the post- 2015 development framework and how these will be addressed nationally, with key recommendations included in the intergovernmental negotiation process 2Inform new national accountability mechanisms for women s, children s and newborns health in the post-2015 framework 3 and new Every Woman Every Child strategy Develop a clear pathway for citizen engagement in accountability mechanisms at national and global levels We will work with champions in Parliament to strengthen calls for more accountability on the proposed goals and targets. The outcome of each Citizen Hearing is a plan that sets out how government will engage with citizens and civil society in tracking progress on women s, children s and newborns health. There is a guide on how to host a national Citizens Hearing on page 5 of this document. Citizens Hearings Toolkit 3 How has speaking out helped ensure accountability in the past? In Zambia, an accountability project called Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) fostered health system responsiveness, community empowerment and trust between the community and the health system in Zambia, according to an academic study. CVA engaged affected stakeholders in the process of developing, implementing, and disseminating policy-related research that has the potential to make a positive difference in achieving policy outcomes and in turn empowered communities in the process. IIn Liberia, civil society organised hearings on water and sanitation in seven of the country s fifteen counties. Political leaders, policy makers and the media heard of the impact the lack of access to water and sanitation on the health, economic and social well-being of individuals, especially in hard-to-reach rural locations. As a result, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ensured access to water and sanitation was a priority in the New Poverty Reduction Strategy.

4 Citizens Hearings Toolkit Global Citizens Hearing The concept of a Global Citizens Hearing is based on the key recommendation relating to civil society from the Independent Expert Review Group (ierg): From 2015 onwards, hold a civil-society-led World Health Forum adjacent to the World Health Assembly to strengthen political accountability for women s and children s health. The purpose of the Forum would be to bring all parties with an interest in global health together at the time of the World Health Assembly to hold the intergovernmental process accountable to the citizens of countries, and to facilitate and coordinate action by non-government actors. This World Health Forum would be an important contribution to the democratisation of global health. How does the plan for a Global Citizens Hearing build on the ierg recommendation for a civil society led forum adjacent to the World Health Assembly? We re pushing for the Global Citizens Hearing to be part of the official agenda at the World Health Assembly, ensuring engagement from political leaders. Civil society leaders who held national Hearings will speak at the Global Citizens Hearing; setting out proposed national plans for government engagement with civil society in their accountability frameworks for the new Every Woman Every Child strategy and the SDGs. The agenda of the Global Citizens Hearing includes sharing the outcomes from National Hearings with decision makers present, contributing to the creation of an accountability mechanism that engages citizens and civil society at its core. What will we achieve together? Overarching goal: citizens and civil society participate meaningfully in dialogue on accountability for women, children and newborn s health during 2015 We will strengthen civil society s voice in the decisions made at the World Health Assembly as well as at the national level We will show we have learnt the lessons of the last development goals and commitments, where accountability was lacking, and act on these lessons We will ensure citizens are engaged in holding governments to account to ensure progress is accelerated for women, children and newborns health

PLANNING A NATIONAL CITIZENS HEARING Citizens Hearings Toolkit 5 Firstly, reach out to Save the Children, White Ribbon Alliance and World Vision offices or the IPPF Member association in your country (if present) to set up a meeting to discuss joint objectives on the national Citizens Hearings, and also to decide a date, panel members, and discuss resources needed, both financial and personnel. Some other helpful hints and ideas for your Hearing are given in this section: Setting a date to host a national Citizens Hearing It s important to think strategically about when the best time might be for your national Hearing in line with other national processes (elections, budget cycles etc). However, deliberations are beginning in January 2015 on the SDGs and the World Health Assembly will be held on the 18-26 May 2015 in Geneva, where the draft of the updated Global Strategy for Women s and Children s Health will be presented. Setting the objective: What is the aim of the hearing? Is it feasible to aim for a concrete plan for how your government will be accountable to commitments made to women s, children s and newborns health, with clear engagement of civil society and citizens? Can you aim for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to give a statement on what s/he will do to further the agenda on women s, children s and newborns health in the debate on Sustainable Development Goals? And can you ask the Minister of Health to make the connection at the World Health Assembly in May? Remember that your outcome will be fed into the global agenda setting for women s, children s and newborns health. Refer to the Outcome Document so that you re clear on what will need to be reported on for your outcomes to feed into the global processes in 2015. If national Citizens Hearings are held before the end of March we can build the outcomes into the agenda for the Global Citizens Hearing at the World Health Assembly and arrange for designated speakers to attend the Hearing. Outcomes from national Citizens Hearings held after this time will contribute to the demand for a robust accountability mechanism being called for at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.

6 Citizens Hearings Toolkit What should be discussed at a national Citizens Hearing? Each national Citizens Hearing will look different according to priorities and salient issues in each context, but here are some suggested key components: 1 Discuss current accountability mechanisms or efforts, both from your own country or others you think would work in your context. 2Explore the unfinished business from commitments made highlighting successes, and outstanding challenges. 3Discuss the proposed global targets for women s, children s and newborns health and how these will be addressed nationally. 4 Discuss why working together in building a stronger accountability mechanism will accelerate progress (by giving examples). 5Showcase 6 examples of strong accountability frameworks and processes. Conclude with a verdict as to how the accountability mechanism will be strengthened, with civil society engagement at its core. 7 8 Invite people to speak who have direct experience of health issues affecting women, children and newborns, e.g. health workers, community leaders, women, children and mothers, local government staff. Make plans for the next Citizens Hearing. This could take place after the World Health Assembly, to assess the outcome and ensure that the priorities identified reflect national priorities for women s, children s and newborns health in post 2015 advocacy, and in the proposed content for the updated Global Strategy.

Citizens Hearings Toolkit 7 THE CHAIR Who would be a good Chair for the meeting so that the outcomes can be taken forward? Will this person be able to make sure citizens lead the meeting and have their voices heard? PANEL Who needs to be on the panel for the hearing to have legitimacy? For national level hearings, which Ministries must be included for the outcomes to be taken forward? THE EVIDENCE Which data should be shared with the panel and the audience? Which CSO groups, community leaders, children and young people could present on their experiences? What support do they need to be able to contribute? What evidence could you use to show progress, or lack thereof, on national accountability for women s, children s and newborns health? THE AUDIENCE Who are the targets for your Citizens Hearing? Are they national, regional and/or local? Think about the most suitable content for your target. How will you make it transparent and accessible for the public? PROMOTION What is the hook for the media? Will you write a press release to encourage media to attend? How will you promote the Hearing to the public and encourage affected communities and influential groups to attend and be involved? Will you encourage media to broadcast your Hearing live? THE RISKS What are the potential risks associated with your Hearing? How can they be mitigated?

8 Citizens Hearings Toolkit THE OUTCOME Share the outcome from your Hearing and it will be given as feedback into setting the updated Global Strategy for Women s and Children s Health and will be used to set the agenda for the Global Citizens Hearing in May 2015 and the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. You will be involved in planning for these global processes. Who has been designated with feeding back the outcomes from the Hearing, based on the questions below? How will you make sure participants are kept up to date with follow up with the Citizens Hearing? Do you want to hold another Citizens Hearing after the World Health Assembly to push for further progress on this agenda? How else will you document the Citizens Hearing? Will you film the hearing or take photos? Key responses required for feedback: 1. What were the specific gaps/priorities identified in the delivery of existing commitments to women s, children s and newborns health? 2. Were specific gaps identified that should be addressed in the future? 3. Were ideas given or a plan set out on how government can be more accountable to citizens and civil society on commitments made to women s, children s and newborns health moving forward? 4. Were there specific outcomes in regards to how citizens and government will engage on women s, children s and newborns health moving forward? Other information to share: 1. Please list the participants who took part in the Hearing 2. Please list the political champions who are actively pushing for increased dialogue between citizens and government on women s, children s and newborn health 3. Was the session photographed and filmed? If so, who is the contact for the footage and photos? 4. Were there particular examples given from citizens on their experiences that made a strong impact? Please share those examples. 5. Please share any links or scans of media coverage from the event Contacts for support and to share your outcomes: Serena O Sullivan, Save the Children, serena.osullivan@savethechildren.org Katy Woods, White Ribbon Alliance, kwoods@whiteribbonalliance.org Lisa O Shea, World Vision lisa_oshea@wvi.org For IPPF, please contact your Regional IPPF Office: http://www.ippf.org/about-us/contact Photos courtesy of the participating organisations. Published 2015