Progress has been made in reducing maternal and child mortality, yet millions continue to  die from preventable causes. These deaths represent an accountability challenge and a  major concern shared by both the health and human rights communities. The Millennium  Development Goals (MDGs) commit to reducing these deaths. Powerful complementarities  exist between MDGs and human rights.1 The MDGs generate attention, mobilise resources  and contribute technical health monitoring approaches. Human rights offer a fundamental  emphasis on accountability, systematic and sustained attention to inequities and a legal  grounding of commitments. This knowledge summary explores human rights accountability  systems at community, country, regional and international levels and the potential synergies  for achieving both human rights and public health goals including, and beyond, the MDGs.