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, the Health Financing Task Force, and the Council of Women World Leaders
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@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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