Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to share this new publication in BMJ Global Health:
*A review and analysis of accountability in global health funding, research collaborations and training: towards conceptual clarity and better practice*
*By Harvy Joy Liwanag, Oria James, and Annika Frahsa*
Full text link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012906
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC
- The importance of accountability to address power asymmetries in global health is widely recognised.
- However, accountability is a complex concept that is challenging to unpack and has different permutations in practice.
WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS
- This systematic literature review and mapping of accountability processes in global health funding, research collaborations and training identified 19 specific processes for accountability at the institutional, interinstitutional and broader system levels to address different categories of intended outcomes.
- Accountability processes were characterised by internal, unidirectional, bidirectional and networks of accountability lines involving a variety of duty bearers and claims holders who foster accountability in the global health system.
HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE OR POLICY
- We argue that calling for more accountability in global health should be accompanied by conceptual clarity on what it entails to institutionalise more accountability processes across all levels of the global health system.
- To bring power to account in global health, our findings suggest the need to assess the lines of accountability and create them when there are gaps, articulate the intended outcomes of accountability, politically engage with the duty bearers and claims holders, while combining organisational and system processes for accountability with the creation of the conditions where a culture of accountability thrives.
HIFA profile: Harvy Joy Liwanag is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University, Malaysia. harvyliwanagmd AT gmail.com
