Advocacy to engage government leadership in Tupange Pamoja program has resulted in:

• Accountability for timely release of budget commitments
• Better stewardship of resources
• Increased funding and support for AYSRH/FP service delivery
• Increased visibility of FP and AYSRH within government entities

Advocacy efforts have resulted in $1,064,202 being committed in East Africa to the implementation of proven approaches, with 40% ($425,229) being spent. 

Steps to Ensure Local Government Buy-In and Increased Support for FP/AYSRH Resources

Advocacy at the City Level focuses on resource allocation as well as spending

• Conduct a needs assessment to identify gaps in FP/AYSRH service provision at the city through identification and mapping of available resources.
• Conduct advocacy meetings with the city health management team (CHMT) including the budget committee and stakeholders to get their buy-in for increased commitment and funding for FP/AYSRH services.
• During the meeting, share with the government teams the most relevant data on FP/AYSRH.
• After sharing the data with the team, develop a list of activities to address these findings and divide responsibility for them in terms of implementation and funding support as well as timeline for completion.

Advocacy at the Facility Level focuses on increasing knowledge of healthcare workers about the budget process and how funding affects facility services

• Identify facility staff who will attend the monthly Program Implementation Team (PIT) meetings
• Prepare facility staff for the meeting
• Upon return, hold meetings on budget allocation, lessons learned, and updates on the provision of quality services with others involved in management and implementation of the program. This could include the facility director, Chief Executive Commissioner, accountant, procurement staff, district managers, and any members of the Community Health Management Teams (CHMTs).

Helpful Tips:

• The level of engagement can range from being long-term, pre-planned, and ongoing to unexpected and one-off.
• After drawing up a plan and activity schedule, facilitate the coordination of a harmonized work plan by bringing together all organizations and stakeholders working in FP/AYSRH in a city. This ensures a reduction in the duplication of activities and maximizes the city’s and donor’s investments and guarantees better planning and reinforcement of advocacy, demand generation and service delivery activities.
• Review the national and county level budget calendar to focus your advocacy efforts during the time of year when it will be most effective. For increased budget allocations, advocates must begin engaging with government officials around January through March for changes in the next fiscal year. For budget accountability on spending, advocates should pay close attention to implementation reports at the end of each quarter (October 31 for 1st quarter spending, January 31 for 2nd quarter spending, and so forth).

• Quality AYSRH/FP services at facility level
• Increased expenditure of FP/AYSRH funds
• Integration of FP services within the facility

• Monitor outcomes of activities that include participation of FP champions
• Track budgets to assess inclusion of FP/AYSRH activities
• Monitor and track expenditures
• Track strategic plans to assess prioritization of FP/AYSRH

• Provision of a budget line for family planning and AYSRH in the sub-national budgets
• Increased allocation for family planning and AYSRH in subsequent budgets
• Increased evidence that allocated funds have been disbursed/used

• Workshop/meeting costs

• Identification and training of FP/AYSRH champions among leadership
• Staff performance contracts include provision of quality services
• Participation of champions within implementation teams