Health Governance

The health governance team supports international Universal Health Coverage goals: where individuals and communities receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.

Around the world, the most stretched health systems face the biggest challenges in creating efficient and equitable healthcare. Globally 80% of people live in low-and middle-income states, but only 20% of global health expenditure is spent in these countries. Over-stretched health systems face additional governance challenges such as poor financial controls, limited accountability mechanisms and weak partnerships with the private sector. Health information is often recorded on paper and data systems for tracking outbreaks and conducting surveillance are often fragmented. 

Strong partnerships and systems are the answer to many of these issues. We adopt a non-hierarchical, partnership approach with public sector and civil society to develop health systems that deliver quality services fairly. We start with inclusive stakeholder mapping and political economy analysis to understand the incentives, opportunities and barriers to change. We then use this data to help make systems more transparent, efficient and effective.  Key services we offer include:

• Strengthening government institutions: We develop collaborative relationships with government health institutions to help them strengthen their technical oversight, improve financial management and source sustainable funding.
• Supporting transitional partnerships with civil society: We support a broad range of non-government, civil society organisations to deliver better quality, more equitable health interventions. We also provide risk-managed transitional grant oversight for local organisations.
• Improving the quality and coverage of human resources for health: In many regions skilled health workers are concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural communities under-served. We work with communities and governments to improve the quality and the distribution of their health workforce – supporting training, policy implementation and resource allocation on a national or state level.
• Facilitating more transparent, accountable client-centred health services: Fairer health systems must be transparent and accountable. That’s why we help public sector and civil society organisations to develop complaint, whistleblowing, safeguarding and oversight mechanisms.
• Promoting evidence-based decision-making: We support institutions to implement and use health information systems and aggregate national health data through software like DHIS. Data digitalisation, management & analysis equips governments to use and respond to surveillance data and develop evidence-based health policies.
• Strengthening public finance management: We work with governments and municipalities to improve financial controls, policies, budgets, and planning mechanisms and ensure public funds are allocated where they are needed most.
• Monitoring & Learning: We support government and civil society by developing monitoring and learning frameworks, accountability programmes and evidence frameworks to track project outcomes and impacts.