The Accountable Governance Programme and Policy Manager at Oxfam, Mohammed Mahamud, has said fund allocation to specific services within the health sector, such as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), have been left to donors alone, and therefore must be given the needed attention.
A situation he says could have dire consequences on the sector if donors stop providing funds for such services in the country. According to him, there is no trace in the health budget indicating a specific quota to be used for SRHR. He further said government must give that a consideration.
“What we have observed, over the years, is that the health budget in general is reducing in the first place while allocation to specific sectors, like SRHR, is almost left to the donors. So you hardly would be able to trace in the budget an allocation for SRHR services, which, for us, is a big challenge. What happens if the donors do not provide the needed funds for us? Yet, it is considered as an essential service for young people. So we will be making a call for government to improve upon funding in the health sector, especially SRHR,” Mohammed Mahamud said this during the launch of the ‘Power to Choose’ project launch in Accra.
The P2C project
The Power to Choose (P2C) Project, launched by Oxfam alongside its local civil society partners, government agencies and professional bodies within the health sector, would adopt both formal and informal approaches to tackle the barriers young women, young men and adolescent boys and girls face in seeking to increase their agency’s access to information and services on SRHR.
This initiative will address acute gaps in SRHR, such as Reproductive Health Education (RHE) for youth health services and family planning for young women and adolescent girls between the ages of 10 to 24 years, protect survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), and combine advocacy work to influence policies and national legal frameworks with behavioural change campaigns.
Oxfam will play a facilitating, supporting and convening role to ensure the success of the project. The initiative will bring together five key partners – Plan Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana), SEND Ghana, Norsaac, and Participatory Action for Rural Development Alternatives (PARDA).
These partners, in collaboration with other stakeholders, will share responsibilities of implementing the project in 37 communities across the country. Over the next 7-year period, Oxfam aims to contribute to increasing enjoyment of health-related human rights by young women and men who live in vulnerable conditions and who experience marginalisation.
The project focuses on three main pillars; which are 1) increased equitable use of sexual and reproductive health services through reproductive health education training programmes, 2) improved provision of gender-responsive, inclusive and accountable sexual and reproductive health services by providers for diverse groups of young girls, and 3) improved effectiveness of key stakeholders, particularly women and youth organisations or movements to advocate evidence-based healthcare policies, accountable legal framework, equitable and inclusive services for young women and adolescent girls.
