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Capacity Building

Challenge

The increased funding available to the health sector has highlighted the lack of country capacity to address health system constraints. Key institutional actors such as ministries of health, national AIDS commissions, umbrella NGOs, civil society organizations, and service providers do not have the capacity to fulfill their functions and responsibilities. In addition, many developing countries often lack local sources of technical assistance – consulting firms, NGOs, and universities – to address these health systems constraints and are dependent on international sources of technical assistance.

Approach

Health Systems 20/20 actively works to develop the capacity of the health sector to address health systems constraints. Broadly speaking, capacity-building activities take two forms. The first is to integrate capacity-building into activities where it is only a component of a larger activity. The second is to work intensively with local and regional organizations to strengthen their capacity to support health systems strengthening. The project takes a comprehensive view of capacity-building that includes developing competency in the core areas of organizational development, resource mobilization, technical assistance and training, organizational governance, management systems, and technical expertise. Health Systems 20/20 uses an assessment-based approach to identify the priority needs, design a capacity-building plan based on those needs, and monitor the implementation of the plan continuously.

Download Health Systems 20/20 and Capacity-Building brief.

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Guidelines for Assessing the Management and Organizational Capacity of National Malaria Control Programs

Jun 24 2008

Malaria control programs throughout Africa, including the 15 focus countries of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), have seen a tremendous increase in funding and activities over the past few years.

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Increasing the Role of Local Organizations in Health Systems Strengthening

Aug 6 2007

Piloting the Approach in Senegal: Health Systems 20/20 organized a workshop for the leadership of 12 local organizations in Senegal from June 25-29, 2007. The workshop was delivered by one international trainer and a local co-trainer. The organizations included nine NGOs, two for-profit consulting firms, and one university research institute. The Health Systems 20/20 conceptual framework for capacity-building was the primary reference for the course. This framework defines six core institutional competencies:

  • organizational development
  • management systems
  • resource mobilization
  • organizational governance
  • technical expertise
  • technical assistance and training
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Strengthening the Capacity of Small Local Consulting Firms and NGOs in Senegal

Jun 25 2007

June 25-29, Health Systems 20/20 will conduct a workshop for 10 local consulting firms and NGOs that provide technical assistance and training in health systems strengthening. The overall purpose of this activity is to develop a model that will improve the capacity of local organizations to provide assistance in health systems strengthening. Each participating organization will send a two-person team to the workshop, one of whom will be the director of the organization.

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Demystifying Health Systems: The Health Systems Assessment Approach

Apr 25 2007
April 25, 2007
1:00 - 3:00 pm
National Press Club

USAID asked its three major health system strengthening projects (PHRplus/Health Systems 20/20; RPM Plus; and the Quality Assurance Project) to develop a rapid but comprehensive approach to assessing health systems by drawing from their experiences working on different, but complementary components of health systems. The result of this effort is an indicator-based, modular assessment tool—Health Systems Assessment Approach: A How-to Manual. This seminar covered the contents of the manual, the circuitous path to its development, and a range of applications in Angola, Azerbaijan, Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Pakistan, and Yemen.

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Health Systems Assessment Approach: A How-To Manual

Apr 1 2007

USAID’s Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition (HIDN) requested the development of a Health Systems Assessment Approach as part of its global Mainstreaming Health Systems Strengthening Initiative. The Health Systems Assessment Approach: A How-To Manual was developed by Health Systems 20/20, Partners for Health Reformplus (PHRplus), Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus (RPM Plus), and the Quality Assurance Project (QAP).It is designed to provide a rapid yet comprehensive assessment of a country's health system.

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