Population Council Research that makes a difference

Bangladesh suffers from inequitable health status, despite remarkable progress in several health indicators. Public health facilities are not truly accountable to meeting the health care needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations, and the health system suffers from corruption and unethical practices. There is also lack of awareness on rights to health among service recipients. Several efforts by the government and NGOs have improved governance and accountability, however, other efforts have not worked out as intended. Further, there is no mechanism to link NGO or civil society initiatives to government initiatives.

Against this background, a technical workshop was organized that provided a platform for better understanding of voice and accountability initiatives undertaken by the government and NGOs/civil society. The meeting was intended to offer evidence on voice and accountability initiatives in the health sector by examining the processes through which these initiatives facilitated improvement in the quality of services for disadvantaged populations. The workshop also attempted to identify a mechanism to ensure reasonable coordination of efforts necessary for further progress in the area.

The workshop was organized by the Gender Equity Voice Task Group of Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. The Population Council provided technical support to organize the workshop. Workshop findings were presented to the MOHFW with the intent of informing the design of future initiatives regarding voice and accountability in the health sector and will be useful for policymakers.