From Commitments to Reality: A Collaborative Advocacy Agenda for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health in Liberia

Liberia has made more than 250 national commitments to improve the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents (WCAH) through policies and strategies aligned with national priorities and global frameworks, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), FP2030, Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere (EWENE), and the Maputo Protocol. Liberia’s challenge is not developing policies, it is translating them into measurable results for women, children and adolescents.

To help close this implementation gap, the Collaborative Advocacy Action Plan (CAAP) initiative in Liberia, a country-led initiative, brings together government, civil society, youth organizations, health professionals, faith-based organizations and development partners around a shared advocacy agenda. Rather than creating new commitments, the CAAP aligns partners behind the actions needed to accelerate implementation of existing national commitments. By aligning diverse partners around a common agenda, the CAAP plan aims to strengthen collective advocacy, coordinate action and reinforce mutual accountability for implementation of national commitments, by linking to institutional accountability processes.

The initiative is coordinated by the Public Health Initiative Liberia (PHIL), under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Big Sisters Organization, a youth-led organization.

Understanding the Implementation Gap

As the foundation for the CAAP, partners conducted a comprehensive mapping and review of national commitments across maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and adolescent well-being (AWB). The assessment mapped more than 250 commitments embedded across Liberia’s major health and development policies and examined why progress has been uneven despite a strong policy environment. These commitments aimed to improve SRMNCAH outcomes through a health systems strengthening approach.

The assessment revealed a pattern of implementation challenges:

• Insufficient and unsustainable financing for health programmes;

• Shortages of skilled health workers and gaps in service quality;

• Weak monitoring, accountability and real-time data systems;

• Uneven implementation across counties and underserved communities;

• Limited multisectoral coordination; and

• Insufficient participation of young people and other underrepresented groups in accountability

These implementation challenges are reflected in Liberia’s health outcomes. Maternal mortality remains high at 628 deaths per 100,000 live births, neonatal and under-five mortality remain above national targets, and households continue to finance approximately 63% of total health expenditure through out-of-pocket payments. (1,2,3)

These findings form the basis of Liberia’s Collaborative Advocacy Action Plan, launched in December 2025. 

^{Partners at the commitments scoping and assessment validation meeting and CAAP development workshop}

“The CAAP convening… is one of the first of its kind to be led by civil society, bringing actors around the table to talk about accountability. There have been other platforms calling for accountability, but most of the time, it is either at SRH or MNCH. But to have a platform that brings all of these together more comprehensively and cohesively, bringing both international partners and local partners, is very encouraging.” — Joyce Kilikpo, Executive Director, Public Health Initiative Liberia

Shared Advocacy Agenda: Four Advocacy Priorities to Accelerate Progress

Using the assessment findings, partners agreed on four advocacy priorities that directly address the most significant implementation bottlenecks.

“Because all of the injustices that exist against women, children and adolescents are created by humans mostly….. so we humans can definitely find this solution. These documents (i.e. the CAAP plan and the scoping and assessment report) clearly posture solutions to some of these injustices. Doing this collaboratively with a strategic plan is very key in holding our government accountable, our partners accountable and each of us accountable for finding solutions and addressing these injustices.” — Emmanuel Gweamee, Program and Policy Administrative Coordinator, Partners in Health

Collaborative Advocacy Goal 1. Accelerating Reductions in Maternal Mortality and Morbidity

Despite sustained policy attention, maternal mortality remains unacceptably high. Partners identified inadequate financing, service delivery challenges, teenage pregnancy, and unsafe abortion as key barriers.

The CAAP will advocate for increased domestic financing for health, with the goal of increasing government health expenditure from 10.8% toward 15% by 2027, while strengthening action on the leading causes of maternal mortality.

Priority activities include national policy dialogues, parliamentary engagement and youth-led advocacy on financing for adolescent and youth-friendly SRHR services. The Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL) and the Paramount Young Women Initiative (PYWI), supported by PHIL, will lead implementation of these activities in 2026.

Collaborative Advocacy Goal 2. Strengthening Sustainable Financing for Adolescent Health and Well-being

The assessment highlighted that persistent underinvestment in adolescent health services contributes to high rates of teenage pregnancy, limited access to mental health services, and insufficient economic opportunities for young people.

Partners will advocate for increased and sustainable financing for adolescent and youth-friendly SRHR services, mental health support and vocational training. Priority activities for 2026 include developing an advocacy brief on sustainable financing, led by Action for Girls Empowerment, and convening parliamentary hearings to strengthen political commitment for adolescent health financing, led by Jhpiego in partnership with youth organizations and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Collaborative Advocacy Goal 3. Securing Reintegration and Psychosocial Support for Adolescent Mothers and Drug-Affected Youth

Adolescent mothers and substance-affected youth face significant barriers to education, social inclusion, and mental health support, and targeted interventions are needed to reduce vulnerability and promote equitable opportunities. Existing interventions remain fragmented, and no comprehensive national framework currently exists to support reintegration of adolescent mothers and long-term recovery of drug-affected youth.

The CAAP plan therefore prioritizes advocacy for stronger national policies and services to support the reintegration and psychosocial well-being of adolescent mothers and drug-affected youth by 2028. Initial implementation commencing in 2026, coordinated by Help a Mother, Help a Newborn Initiative with support from the Paramount Young Women Initiative (PYWI), will focus on advocacy for strengthening policy frameworks, promoting school re-entry and establishing youth-led accountability mechanisms. These efforts will leverage existing government initiatives and platforms, including the Ministry of Education’s school re-entry programme, the Ministry of Health’s 365 Days of Activism and the National Youth Advisory Council.

Collaborative Advocacy Goal 4. Strengthening Multisectoral Coordination for RMNCAH+N Policy (2024-31) Implementation

Many national commitments require coordinated action across multiple sectors, yet implementation is often constrained by fragmented governance and limited participation of women, young people, persons with disabilities and other underrepresented groups.

To address these challenges, partners have decided to advocate to strengthen an existing multisectoral RMNCAH+N coordination platform by improving its functioning and promoting meaningful participation of underrepresented constituencies in national policy processes.

In 2026, partners prioritized the identification of steps to revise the structure and functioning, advocate for strengthening functionality of the platform by enhancing its ways of working, and securing the participation of underrepresented constituencies in the coordination platform. Partners In Health (PIH), supported by PHIL, government institutions and development partners, will coordinate implementation of this advocacy priority.

Implementing the CAAP Plan

During a work-planning meeting in May 2026, partners agreed on clear implementation arrangements, including prioritizing key activities till December, assigning lead organizations for these activities, establishing monthly coordination meetings, using existing communication platforms for real-time collaboration and regularly reviewing progress. 

A Shared Accountability Framework

Liberia’s CAAP Plan demonstrates that accelerating progress for women’s, children’s and adolescents’  health requires coordinated implementation and shared accountability.

As implementation gathers momentum, the success of Liberia’s CAAP will be measured not by the commitments it documents, but by the improvements it delivers in the lives of women, children and adolescents. We welcome Liberian partners to join the movement!