PHA-Exch> Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health: Improving the Equity of Health Financing

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
crossposted from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org

 *Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health*

*
**Improving the Equity of Health Financing in Developing Countries and Donor
Harmonization and Alignment*

*
**CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS**: *
http://www.resultsfordevelopment.org/_docs/MLIRFP1.pdf* *

* *

Technical call for submissions:
http://www.resultsfordevelopment.org/_docs/MLIRFP4.pdf

* *

Project Summary: http://www.resultsfordevelopment.org/_docs/MLISummary.pdf

*
Dateline: **April 25, 2008 ***

* *

Website: www.healthfinancingtaskforce.org. **

*
"…*Making financing and budgets – whether from the public treasury or from
external aid – work to improve the health of the poor in developing
countries is a continual challenge. Political leadership is central to any
effort to improve financing equity and align aid with national health plans.

* *

*The Ministerial Leadership Initiative*



The Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health (MLI) is a four-year
project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the
leadership capacity of Ministers of Health and their senior staff to promote
pro-poor financing reforms and harmonization and alignment in donor funds
for health.

This project is a partnership between Realizing
Rights<http://www.realizingrights.org/>,
the Health Financing Task Force, and the Council of Women World
Leaders<http://www.cwwl.org/>



It seeks to provide leadership support and technical assistance to Ministers
of Health and their senior staff in developing countries in two policy area:
- The first is making sure health services and financing reach the poorest
people in their societies.
- The second is helping to aligndonor programs with national health plans,.



The assistance offered by MLI will be tailored to a country's needs. It
might include:

- help making an investment case for reform;
- technical or political strategy advice;
- studies on the design or evaluation of the reform;
- assistance to nurture reforms such as workshops; and

- placing a full-time advisor on a minister's staff to provide ongoing
support.



Participating ministers and senior staff also will have opportunities to
come together, share their experiences, and discuss challenges and
breakthroughs.

*
Submission and Selection Criteria*

Any lower- or middle-income country may apply for support from MLI. Four to
five ministerial teams will be selected.



MLI will evaluate submissions for evidence of: leadership vision and team;
technical and political feasibility to get the job done; and strong

political will, evidenced in part by assigning a senior official to work
with MLI.



*Submissions will be accepted until the close of business (17:00 EST) on
April 25, 2008.*

*

*Submissions should be no longer than five pages and can be written in
English, Spanish, or French.

Please include information on the proposed reform and its objectives, who
would participate in the ministerial team, how to contact the team, and
other sources of support that might be relevant to the proposed reform.


Please send the submissions by email in the form of a Microsoft Word
document or PDF file to mli at resultsfordevelopment.org



*
THE MINISTERIAL LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH*

*PROGRAM SUMMARY*

*BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF MINISTRIES OF HEALTH TO IMPACT POLICY FOR MORE
EQUITABLE HEALTH OUTCOMES

*

*
*The Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health (MLI), funded by
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a four-year initiative (October 2007
– October 2011) of Realizing Rights, the Health Financing Task Force and the
Council of Women World Leaders to strengthen the leadership capacity of
Ministers of Health and their senior staff to promote pro-poor health
financing reforms and harmonization and alignment in donor funds for health.
In addition, the Initiative will also

support the World Health Organization (WHO) in its implementation of
interventions that will have a positive impact on women's health.



Because political leadership is an essential element of successful,
scaled-up, and sustainable health systems, MLI will support ministerial
teams through peer learning opportunities, tailored intensive technical
assistance and practical, business-style cases highlighting ministerial-led
best practice. MLI

will pilot an innovative leadership development model, which is grounded in
practical experience, building on the wealth of ministerial experience,
matched with world-class technical expertise.



Health Ministry leadership is critical to improving equity and effectiveness
Ministers of Health are charged with the leadership, stewardship and
implementation of national health policy and health systems. They are
ultimately accountable for ensuring public health and equitable access to
services. Public policies that build pro-poor health financing and
utilization of services, in combination with the increased effectiveness and
harmonization of donor aid, can dramatically improve the equity of health
status and systems, especially for those most marginalized - usually the
poor and women.



*Program Objectives*

·         enhance decision-making capacity and skills of Ministers of Health
to improve the equity of health financing and utilization of health services
in favor of the poor and needy;

·         enhance ministerial leadership teams' management and negotiation
skills and provide assistance in the development of country-led strategies
in order to increase harmonization of donor funds for health and alignment
with national health strategies; and

·         support the continued implementation by WHO of interventions
prioritizing women's health at WHO, and bring more awareness to these issues
globally. Major Activities

·         provide a tailored package of technical assistance and other
needed support to move harmonization and alignment in donor funds for health
and health financing reforms forward in 4-5 target countries to be selected
on a competitive basis;

·         conduct annual technical workshop for all ministers of health and
senior staff at the time of World Health Assembly (WHA) on the topic of
health financing for equity and donor harmonization and alignment, which
will include showcasing program findings and country-level experiences with
reform;

·         provide a forum and carry out study tours for Ministers of Health
and senior staff from the 4-5 target countries to come together and share
their experiences, discuss challenges they face and potential solutions, and
develop supportive relationships with one another;

·         establish a Women's Health Ministerial Consultative Network to
serve in a supportive and advisory role to the Director-General (DG) of WHO
in the implementation of WHO interventions that prioritize women's health;
and

·         create an online resource library and community of practice to
broadly disseminate MLI project learning and to provide a forum for global
peer support and learning exchange.




The key role of Ministers of Health in ensuring the public health of
citizens and providing equitable access to health services underscores the
fact that political leadership must form the cornerstone of any effort to
improve the status of global health outcomes.

Ministers have the potential to initiate policy reform that will have
lasting impact at a national scale. Improved Ministerial skills and
decision-making for improved health financing and utilization as well as
increased donor harmonization and coordination should result in more, and
better utilized, resources for health, and thus in scaled up or improved
quality of services for better access for all. It is at this nexus of
technical expertise and leadership development that the Ministerial
Leadership Initiative will operate, creating the potential for greater
equity and effectiveness in health systems at country level…."
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