Partnerships are essential to policy advocacy. PATH seeks the expertise and participation of women’s rights groups and equality-focused organizations to systematically elevate the voices of women in the policy process.
Research shows that when women are more equally represented in policy decisions, outcomes tend to support gender-equitable health and education initiatives. Beyond the number of women in the room, the potential gender biases and blind spots of the decision-making body and its leaders matter.
That’s why PATH works to ensure that women feature prominently in all policy conversations and can represent the voices of women not at the table. We intentionally engage women-led and gender-focused organizations and parliamentarians through the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) and the Network of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians–Uganda Chapter (NAWMP). We also work with gender focal persons in the ministries of Health and Gender, to ensure their voices are well represented in the mostly male-dominated decision-making spaces.
“Our goal is to coordinate budget holders, decision-makers, technical experts, and communities to ensure the national immunization budget is sustained overall and expanded where and when needed,” says Bebona Josephine Babungi, chair of NAWMP. “More recently, we’ve applied our systematic gender integration approach to the challenge of increasing resources for Uganda’s national immunization programs—and it’s made a difference in how we work.”
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