African civil society organizations are calling for greater accountability and transparency from African leaders regarding the use of public funds for the survival of mothers and babies. Activists will take advantage of an international conference on 1 July 2014, the Partners Forum, organized by the World Health Organization, to put pressure on senior Government officials from across the continent. This call to action marks the launch of an African-led network demanding better use of existing funds for African women and children’s health as well as a greater share of African national budgets allocated to mothers and babies’ survival. The Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) believes we need to get specific about promises made for women and children’s health, and to track whether these promises have been kept. Their first priority, however, is to make sure that African governments are open and transparent about what they spend on health. While most African government have already made commitments about improving the health of their population, including through greater spending, it is difficult to check whether they are keeping their promises if the budget is not publicly available or if the information in the budget is not clearly presented. The members of the Africa Health Budget Network have compiled a scorecard showing how open African Governments are about their health spending. Out of the 26 African countries profiled, only one, South Africa, is sufficiently transparent. Dr Aminu Magashi Garba in Nigeria said: "African activists are now using the internet and social media to discover more about their government's priorities. We note that our governments are shy about sharing public expenditure on health in our country. We want to know more. This matters to the women and children of my country, Nigeria. We will be in Johannesburg in June, at an international conference, to call for greater transparency in health spending, and to demand increased expenditure on the health of Africa's women and children. Their health and survival is, after all, critical to Africa's future prosperity." Dr Mohamed Yilla, Country Director for the Mamaye Campaign in Sierra Leone, added that “countries like Sierra Leone with poor survival rates for mothers and babies are often also plagued with underinvestment in the health sector. Civil Societies in Sierra Leone have been advocating for increased and more transparent health financing for a couple of years. Since we have started, health budget has increased. It is vital that CSOs continue to put pressure on the Government to meet its commitments. The African network will help us share experiences and lessons-learnt to improve our advocacy.”
Africans are leading a call to action to demand better use of existing funds for African mothers and children's health, and for policy makers to fulfil promises made to improve the health of women and children.