The Health Policy Project has ended, but work continues under a new USAID five-year project, Health Policy Plus (HP+).
PUBLICATION
Author(s): Donald Dickerson and Aliyu Aminu Ahmed
Primary Language: English
Date: 10/28/2013
Abstract:
For several decades, civil society organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria have been advocating for increased resources for reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP) services and commodities. Many people assume that once policymakers make a public commitment to provide funding for a specific purpose, the funds are assured. However, such a commitment is only the first step in securing budgetary allocation. The necessary steps include formal approval for the budgetary allocation, inclusion of the funds in the approved budget, release of the funds for the program, and expenditure of the funds intended.
CSOs can play a key role in ensuring that public funds are used for the intended purpose and actually reach the intended beneficiaries. To do so, they need to understand the budgetary process and the role of nongovernmental stakeholders in the process. The inner workings of the state-level budget process in Nigeria are not well understood, and there is little documentation of the process to provide guidance.
To help CSOs in Nigeria understand and actively participate in the budget process, the Health Policy Project conducted an assessment to identify the differences between theory and practice in state-level budgeting. In doing so, several entry points emerged for CSOs to make a difference in FP/RH funding; the key tasks identified include
- Advocate for increased funds for FP/RH programs and commodities
- Ensure that adequate funds are budgeted, obligated, and released in a timely manner
- Track state-level budget expenditures, especially funds actually expended for FP/RH services and commodities
- Hold policymakers and program managers accountable for the effective use of public funds
Advocacy Civil Society Engagement Equity Family Planning/Reproductive Health (FP/RH) Governance, Stewardship & Accountability (GS&A) Health Financing Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Non-Government/Community Service Org. (NGO/CSO) Parliamentarians Policy Report Nigeria
