Abstract

BackgroundMaternal and child health issues have gained global political attention and resources in the past 10 years, due in part to their prominence on the Millennium Development Goal agenda and the use of evidence-based advocacy by policy networks. This paper identifies key factors for this achievement, and raises questions about prospective challenges for sustaining attention in the transition to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, far broader in scope than the Millennium Development Goals.MethodsThis paper relies on participant observation methods and document analysis to develop a case study of the behaviours of global maternal and child health advocacy networks during 2005–2015.ResultsThe development of coordinated networks of heterogeneous actors facilitated the rise in attention to maternal and child health during the past 10 years. The strategic use of epidemiological and economic evidence by these networks enabled policy attention and promoted network cohesion. The time-bound opportunity of reaching the 2015 Millennium Development Goals created a window of opportunity for joint action. As the new post-2015 goals emerge, networks seek to sustain attention by repositioning their framing of issues, network structures, and external alliances, including with networks that lay both inside and outside of the health domain.ConclusionsIssues rise on global policy agendas because of how ideas are constructed, portrayed and positioned by actors within given contexts. Policy networks play a critical role by uniting stakeholders to promote persuasive ideas about policy problems and solutions. The behaviours of networks in issue-framing, member-alignment, and strategic outreach can force open windows of opportunity for political attention -- or prevent them from closing.

Highlights

  • Maternal and child health issues have gained global political attention and resources in the past 10 years, due in part to their prominence on the Millennium Development Goal agenda and the use of evidencebased advocacy by policy networks

  • The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have generated an increasing amount of reflection about how political attention has been shaped by these goals and how neglected issues could attract support in the future [1]

  • MDG4 calls for the reduction of under-five child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 against a 1990 baseline, and MDG5 calls for the reduction of maternal mortality by three-quarters during the same period, as well as universal access to reproductive health

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Summary

Introduction

Maternal and child health issues have gained global political attention and resources in the past 10 years, due in part to their prominence on the Millennium Development Goal agenda and the use of evidencebased advocacy by policy networks. Many have suggested that this improvement is linked to greater global political attention for maternal and child health during the MDG era.. Many have suggested that this improvement is linked to greater global political attention for maternal and child health during the MDG era.1 Indicators of such attention include policy statements and resource commitments, such as the 2010 launch of a “Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health” by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which attracted written “commitments” for implementation by more than 300 organisations, including 84 national governments. Estimates of official development assistance for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) rose from USD 2.67 billion in 2003 to USD 8.34 billion in 2012, despite a climate of declining overall aid contributions in recent years [4]

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