CSOs, Media Ready for Better Liberia’s Health Coverage, Financing by 2030

Governments worldwide are seeking to develop their health financing systems to provide financial protection and achieve universal health coverage (UHC), defined as access to key promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health interventions of good quality for all at an affordable cost. 

As countries focus on increasing effective coverage and financial risk protection, it is critically important to ensure that the poor and vulnerable - who are often the most difficult to reach – are not left behind. 

Against that backdrop, Public Health Initiative Liberia (PHIL), a community health focus organization working to promote and enhance the quality of healthcare delivery in Liberia, has trained and certificated twenty-five (25) participants in universal health coverage, financing and budget advocacy in Liberia.

The week-long training, which took place at a resort in Sinkor, was attended by civil society organizations from across 15 institutions and media practitioners.

It was financed by WACI, a regional advocacy organization based in Kenya that influence political priorities through an effective, evidence-driven Pan-African civil society voice and action.

Ms. Joyce L. Kilikpo, PHIL Executive Director, who spoke at the closing and certification program, said the training was meant to equip participants to go out to conduct advocacy as it relates to Liberia realizing better health coverage by 2030 as well as investing more in health.  

“So today, we are certificating about 25 CSOs participants that have been with us for past five-days now,” she added.            

PHIL Executive Director also said that the training will also help the participants with the needed information skills and knowledge to enable them to work collectively to influence health financing space in the country as well as achieve universal health coverage by 2030.

“As you all may know that Liberia has committed to the SDGs of issuing healthy lives and promoting well-being for all of all ages with Universal health coverage increasing acceptance umbrella agenda using primary health care. To ensure these goals are achieved, there has been a need for increased investment in health towards better use of existing resources, accountability and sustainability,” she said.

Ms. Kilikpo, however, observed that investment in health is both a technical and political matter describing it as a social contract between citizens and the states. 

“As health is a human right, governments are responsible for the realization of the right to health through the allocation of the maximum available resources, also ensuring that plans and actual expenditure are transparent, equitable and efficiently used,” said PHIL Executive Director. 

According to her, citizens, CSO parliamentarians and stakeholders do play an important role in holding the government accountable for policy and making choices made along the pathway towards universal health coverage. 

She disclosed that on October 20, PHIL began a training session that brought together 25 CSOs from across 15 institutions to participants in a five (5) days intensive training that would empower them to go out to conduct advocacy as it relates to Liberia realizing better health coverage by 2030 as well as investing more in health.

The PHIL Executive Director also said that health budget advocacy is a tool that will be used by the participants to strengthen such engagement with CSOs and other stakeholders in decision-making processes.

This, she said, involved accessing budget information analysis to expose decisions made and their implications and influencing budget choices through advocacy. 

She also stressed the need to improve the advocacy and engagement skills of CSOs in health financing as well as build the necessary capacity of health financing within Liberia.

Ms. Kilikpo said: “Considering these challenges at national and sub-regional levels there appear to be even more challenges in emergency respond planning, budgetary and monitoring.” 

For his part, Emmanuel Tieh Delamy, Health Financing Specialist in Liberia and an independent consultant lauded PHIL and its partners for the training in equipping CSOs and media practitioners in the country.

Delamy, however, expressed the hope that the knowledge provided by the participants will be utilized, mainly at the level of the CSOs development of improving the national budget towards Liberia's healthcare. 

Also speaking, Vowu Molubah, Assistant Director for Macroeconomics at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, who spoke on behalf of his boss, Deputy Finance Minister for Economic Management, Mr. Augustus J. Flomo acknowledged PHIL and others for building a capacity for Liberian CSOs.

Molubah said knowing fully well the budget constraints that the government of Liberia faces is challenging and as such, they will try their best to ensure that the health sector is fully financed.