The Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030 (CSEM) in collaboration with BASIC NEEDS GHANA has organised a UHC consultation with stakeholders to discuss the Key questions asked from the 2019 United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) consultations, the additional questions made in 2021 on emergency preparedness, and the additional made in 2022 on priorities for the next UN HLM in 2023. The meeting, which was held on the 1st of June,2022, was organised with funding from WACI HEALTH.
Participants at the consultation sessions included representatives from Ghana Health Service (GHS)/ICD/Mental Health, Mental Health Society Of Ghana (MEHSoG), Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Mind Freedom, Regional Mental Health Coordinators (RMHC), Centre For Development Of People (CEDEP), SONGTAABA Ghana, Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), Ghanaian Times, Ghana Federation Of People With Disabilities(GFD),Centre For People Right Initiative(CPRI), Special Olympics, Disability News And People With Lived Experiences etc. Participants were put into three (3) groups to answer the questions namely government officials, civil society organisations and people with lived experiences
Th consultation approach will allow Civil Society perspectives on the state of UHC to be added to the dialogues around progress on other SDGs, as assessed through the Voluntary National Review (VNRs) and associated civil society shadow reports. The results from the country consultations will serve as key inputs to the State of UHC Commitment review.
This consultation allowed stakeholders to provide input into the State of UHC Commitments review and country profiles, to track progress of UHC implementation at the country level by capturing the stories, experiences, and perspectives of civil society and communities and allowed stakeholders to understand which populations have been most left behind and the challenges to accessing quality healthcare.
Engaging civil society and communities to build momentum for the 2023 UN HLM on UHC, by contributing to the key asks for political leaders as well as building and strengthening in-country coalitions of health advocates helps Civil society to have input in the State of the UHC Commitment report and helps in raising awareness and mobilization of civil society for the 2023 UN HLM on UHC.
At the consultations stakeholders were able to give their inputs which will serve as the State of UHC Commitment review from the Ghana perspective. Civil society-led advocacy materials will be developed from these consultations and disseminated widely before world leaders meet in 2023 for the UHC High-level meeting. Additional resources and assets will also be developed by partners as relevant to country-level advocacy for UHC and the global goals.
