Last month I represented Management Sciences for Health (MSH) at Oxfam India [9]’s South Asia Consultation on Maternal Health in Kathmandu, Nepal. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss significant maternal health programming experiences in Afghanistan [10], Bangladesh [11], India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and to suggest strategic directions for Oxfam India’s future maternal health programming. More than 30 representatives from governments, national and international universities, and nongovernmental organizations attended.

Three elements of improving maternal health outcomes [12] stood out in my mind from discussions at the meeting:

Good governance is like a large elephant, Ahmed Adamu, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council, said. One person can touch the trunk, one the stomach, and one the tail, and they have had very different experiences with the elephant. Around the world, everyone has different experiences and different perceptions of good governance. With this anecdote, Adamu, a speaker at the plenary, “Achieving Good Governance and Accountability” at the 2014 World Conference on Youth, captures the challenges of defining good governance often cited in more academic terms. Though the concept of good governance is up for interpretation, there is consensus across countries, generations, and sectors that it is sorely needed. According to a consultation by Restless Development with young people in 12 countries , overall, governance is their most important issue that should be addressed in the post-2015 dialogue. And while good governance might be their most pressing concern, according to Subinay Nandy, Sri Lanka’s Resident Coordinator to the United Nations, it is young people themselves who are the most important tool international agencies can use to guarantee good governance.

The World Conference on Youth [17] (WCY2014) is bringing together over 1,500 youth delegates, ages 18 to 29, from May 6-10, 2014, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for thematic policy roundtables to create an outcome document ("Colombo Action Plan") that will state the position of mainstreaming youth in the post-2015 development agenda.

On May 7, the Leadership, Management & Governance (LMG) Project [18] will host a side event with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) [19], and the International Youth Alliance on Family Planning (IYAFP) [20], titled, “Building Youth Leadership for Family Planning in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.”

The side event (18h30–20h00 in room C2) will support young people’s leadership potential, capacities, and abilities to address health issues that directly and uniquely affect them and contribute leadership skills for the next generation of family planning and global health leaders.