Road map for action on women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health

Abstract

nvesting in women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health is a human rights imperative addressed in many international commitments and national laws. It is also a wise economic investment for the State. Healthy children grow up to become healthier adults. Healthy adolescents miss less schooling, marry and have children later – when they are ready – and become productive members of society. Healthy women miss less work and are better able to advocate for their own health and the health of their families. Health is an area of political and strategic focus for the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). In 2019, the IPU Assembly adopted the resolution Achieving universal health coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health. This was preceded by the 2012 resolution Access to health as a basic right: The role of parliaments in addressing key challenges to securing the health of women and children and its 2017 addendum. These resolutions outline the important work of parliamentarians in delivering health, in particular for women, children and adolescents. As legislators, overseers of government action and community leaders, members of parliament are well placed to make sure that democracy and parliamentary action improve health, and more specifically women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. Where parliamentarians are effectively engaged in this effort, they can become influential leaders who are able to stand up and use their constitutional prerogatives to deliver for the people. This handbook builds on the 2013 IPU handbook Sustaining parliamentary action to improve maternal, newborn and child health. It provides an action-oriented road map to help parliamentarians decide how best to improve health outcomes for women, children and adolescents. It includes the decision-making road map that parliamentarians can follow. It further applies the framework to the EWEC Global Strategy 2016–2030, highlighting key issues of concern, indicators and interventions for each of the six focus areas for 2020: (a) early childhood development; (b) adolescent health and well-being; (c) quality, equity and dignity of care; (d) sexual and reproductive health and rights; (e) empowerment of women, girls and communities; and (f) humanitarian and fragile settings. The handbook also contains convenient pull-out sections setting out the road map and a short summary for each focus area, so that parliamentarians and their staff can adapt the proposed parliamentary action to their country contexts. This handbook is the result of a long-standing close collaboration between the IPU and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH). We hope that it will inspire and help parliaments and parliamentarians worldwide to demonstrate strong political leadership and to fully exercise their legislative, budgetary and oversight powers in order to deliver for women, children and adolescents everywhere.