Introduction: Accountability for Health Equity: Galvanising a Movement for Universal Health Coverage

This issue of the IDS Bulletin developed out of a workshop held at IDS, 19–21 July 2017, entitled ‘Unpicking Power and Politics for Transformative Change: Towards Accountability for Health Equity’. We consider three thematic strands that emerged from the workshop. First, the nature of accountability politics ‘in time’ and the cyclical aspects of national and transnational accountability for health equity efforts. Second, the contested politics of ‘naming’ and measuring accountability, and the intersecting dimensions of marginalisation and exclusion that are missing from current debates. Third, the shifting nature of power in global health and new configurations of health actors, social contracts, and the role of technology in this new era. We conclude with a proposal for long-term approaches to the institutionalisation of accountability processes and the strategic galvanising of a broader range of partners to work towards Universal Health Coverage, as both a metric and a mechanism of achieving greater health equity.