The right to health is a fundamental human right to guarantee all people live in dignity. Africa Community Impact Organization is committed to amplifying equal and just access to health in the communities we work with
Ensuring the universal right to health
We believe that everyone has the right to health as well as reproductive autonomy. Africa Community Impact Organization’s multifaceted health programs address barriers at the individual, social, and structural levels, and include expanding our existing expertise in epidemics and diseases to meet the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our goal is for 20 million people to be able to exercise their right to health by 2030. This includes the ability for 30 million women to exercise their right to sexual and reproductive health.
Africa Community Impact Organization focuses on the development of resilient, equitable, and accountable health systems capable of responding to shocks and crises and providing long-term access to quality health services for all.
Globally, persistent economic and social inequities, as well as ongoing threats to health security posed by increases in the number, scale, scope, and duration of humanitarian disasters, undermine the right to health. Restrictive gender norms and inequalities are replicated and reinforced in health systems, contributing to poorer health and lived experiences for women and girls.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems were struggling to meet the health needs of the populations they were supposed to serve, particularly sexual and reproductive health needs. The pandemic’s impact has strained these systems even more, threatening hard-won gains in health equity and gender justice.
What is Africa Community Impact Organization doing to improve access to healthcare?
Africa Community Impact Organization’s added value continues to be its equity and rights-based approach to health and health systems. We seek to:
Increase the assets and agency of women, girls, and other marginalized groups.
Change the power dynamics to allow for collective voice and well-being.
Transform health systems and structures to ensure universal health access.
Africa Community Impact Organization and its partners have assisted 20,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in exercising their health rights, particularly in sexual and reproductive health. Looking ahead, as part of our 2030 strategy, we hope to expand our reach to 100,000 people.
Africa Community Impact Organization works with community groups and leaders and local health authorities to catalyze community-led collective action, mobilize public demand, and build institutional commitments and to change institutional practices and policies.
Our global health work focuses in four areas:
Strengthening local health systems and community-based organizations
Supporting marginalized population groups, especially adolescents, to exercise their right to health
Increasing access to quality health services, including sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian and fragile settings
Preparing and responding to public health emergency preparedness
Prepared by Janet