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Programme alignment in higher‐level planning processes: a four‐country case‐study for Sexual and Reproductive Health
Author(s) -
Dodd Rebecca,
Huntington Dale,
Hill Peter
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the international journal of health planning and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-1751
pISSN - 0749-6753
DOI - 10.1002/hpm.967
Subject(s) - reproductive health , millennium development goals , poverty reduction , poverty , economic growth , political science , business , environmental health , medicine , economics , population
With international development assistance focussed on poverty reduction, national and sector‐wide planning processes have become increasingly important in setting agendas. Sector‐Wide Approaches (SWAps), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), and other higher level planning processes, including Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reporting, have required new levels of engagement in national and sectoral planning processes. For Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), this has had mixed consequences, despite raising the profile of SRH in national planning agendas, and emphasizing the potential of SRH to contribute to the reduction of poverty. Drawing on case‐study research from four countries, this paper analyzes alignment of SRH policy with higher‐level planning processes. It found that SRH managers are rarely engaged in higher‐level planning processes, and while SRH features prominently in the [health] sections of PRSPs, it is not reflected in other sections, and does not necessarily correspond to more resources. Despite these limitations, these planning processes offer synergies that could improve the contribution of SRH to health sector development and poverty reduction. The paper recommends that local donor organizations, including key UN agencies, offer greater support for SRH programme managers in promoting the pro‐poor and systems‐wide strengths of SRH programmes to planners and policy makers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.