Table 2.

Expert Panel recommendations for promoting community engagement/empowerment for improved maternal, neonatal and child health

Main recommendations	Details
Empower communities and women in these communities to be more actively engaged in improving the health of mothers, newborns and children	Establish a foundation of values that supports partnerships with communities and processes to build community capacity through giving communities a voice in supervising or controlling certain aspects of local government health services, and through building the agency of women (such as the promotion of women’s empowerment, support of micro–credit programs and development of conditional cash transfer programs).
	Support the development of community–based organizations focused on local health needs and on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of local health programs.
Build stronger partnerships between the community and the health system	Create a health system culture that is respectful of and collaborative with community members.
	Create bi–directional communication flows.
	Create bi–directional linkages between the district health system and communities that can help everyone be accountable for health system performance.
Involve communities in monitoring, evaluation, and use of health–related information	Create systems for the community’s generation and use of health data (including registration of births and deaths and identification of those in greatest need of services, as part of a continuing process to promote equity in all stages of health care).
	Develop participatory approaches to the monitoring and evaluation of CBPHC programs, including assessments of mortality impact.