Aid Effectiveness starts with designing effective projects
Read the writing on the wall…
Have you read a “Request for Proposal” (RFP) recently and noticed how much more effective the future project could be? Have you noticed how sometimes RFPs have nothing to do with improving the country’s health system or helping the country run its health program better? Instead, they are about what the grantee or the contractor will do but not what the local health system or local organizations will be able to do and continue doing as result of what the grantee or the contractor will do.
Have you noticed how some of them claim to want to improve coverage or availability of services but they do not say who will be assisted in the country to provide and sustain those services, supervise the staff and provide them with the supplies they need? Is the contractor or grantee expected to do it all? Instead, these RFPs must say how the health program managers and the healthcare providers in the public or private sector or the civil society organizations (preferably all of the above) will be able to do better as a result of the project.
These RFPs are unfortunately more business as usual. Consequently, there are projects that are not effective because they were not designed to be effective. They are designed to achieve an objective but not through the most effective and sustainable way, that is, the country’s health system that includes all its stakeholders.
It is time for change. For example: A project designed to achieve epidemiological impact and control a certain disease in some parts of a country must be designed to strengthen the country’s public health program for that disease and that serves the whole country. The project must focus on helping the country improve healthcare delivery and access to improved services for those suffering that disease in those parts of the country. In no case, must the project duplicate or compete in parallel with the country’s health system and institutions but strengthen them.
Remember: Effective Projects are by Design not by Chance
If you want to learn more about improving aid effectiveness to develop resilient health systems, I invite you to join me at the next free RGH webinar entitled “Aid Effectiveness in Global Health: Getting Back to Basics in Global Health”.
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