Overcoming service delivery bottlenecks: Safe motherhood in ...

Overcoming service delivery bottlenecks: Safe motherhood in rural Rwanda Vikki Chambers Overseas Development Institute Presentation for understanding the politics of service delivery Workshop, 16 Jan 2011 [email protected] www.institutions-africa.org What works and why?

www.institutions-africa.org Rwanda maternal health: promising results Households are increasingly limiting and spacing family size Family planning methods available to women at Bisate health centre, Musanze district Women and men attend

the 1st ANC. Both are tested for HIV Women give birth at health centres. Many use waiting facilities to avoid accidental home births Men and women attending the maternity wing of Kinigi health centre, Musanze district

Women using the maternity waiting facilities at Jenda health centre, Nyamagabe district www.institutions-africa.org How have bottlenecks been overcome? 1. A coherent local policy environment has created clear lines of responsibility for service delivery and ensured that DP interventions plug key resource gaps. Political commitment in pushing reforms through has been key

www.institutions-africa.org How have bottlenecks been overcome? 2. By enforcing top-down performance discipline to ensure providers are answerable for the services they deliver. effective supervision and monitoring consistent incentives (rewards/sanctions). There are real consequences for poor performance

www.institutions-africa.org How have bottlenecks been overcome? 3. By facilitation of collective action arenas Population participation within local collective action arenas www.institutions-africa.org Lessons from Rwanda Focusing on material resources alone can ignore the potential of

institutional factors to overcome service-delivery blockages in resource-constrained environments. Addressing key service-delivery bottlenecks is not just about supply and demand but the interaction between the two. Top-down policy drive and grass-roots engagement have both been crucial. Collaborative spaces in which actors come together can provide key arenas in which service delivery bottlenecks can be overcome. www.institutions-africa.org Africa power and

politics The Africa Power and Politics Programme is a consortium research programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Irish Aid for the benefit of developing countries. www.institutions-africa.org