Malawi Health Sector Programme – Technical Assistance Component, Options Consultancy Services, 2018

1. Enhancing Health Sector Aid
Coordination
Malawi Health Sector Programme –
Technical Assistance Component
21st September 2018, Knowledge Café

2. Aid Coordination Issues
• Mixed partner compliance to aid effectiveness
principles
• SWAp focused on pooled funds and system
strengthening rather than alignment
• Donor withdrawal from pooled funding led to
greater focus on parallel funding mechanisms
• Increasing MOHP focus on aid coordination
• Aid Coordination Unit set up in 2016 to
rationalise existing resources

3. Aid Coordination Unit (ACU)
• Purpose:
• Point of contact within MOHP for all partners
• Greater harmonisation
• Alignment of health sector development assistance
• Function:
– Oversees MOUs and facilitates tax waivers and
visas
– Focal point for large projects such as Global Fund,
GAVI, ADB, HSJF
– Provides an entry point for all partners .

4. What MHSP-TA has supported
• HSWG meetings
• Technical advisor to support set up and roll
out of the ACU
• District Harmonisation Task Team
• District level partner coordination meetings

5. Aid Coordination Outputs
• Staff job descriptions submitted for ACU formal
establishment
• Aid coordination strategy and guidelines
• Annual resource mapping exercise supported
• Proposals for harmonising funding mechanisms and
modalities developed
• HSJF Motions supported on behalf of MOHP departments
• Ongoing secretariat support to the HSWG and HSJF
• Standard template for MOUs
• Database of partners and MOU status

6. MOU Status
• 332 organisations (others to be included)
• Include multi-laterals, FBOs and private
CSR
• Of the 332 organisations:
– 253 have no record of MOU
– 36 have MOUs
– 24 need MOU to be reviewed
– 18 in process of registering an MOU
– 1 registration not yet completed

7. Aid Coordination Results
• New standard template MOUs signed
• Expenditure facilitated:
• ADB funds - approx. USD 12 million since 2016
• HSJF funds – approx. USD 8,360,000 (FY
2017-18)

8. Way Forward
• Assess absorption capacity and merge all
PIUs into one MOHP unit
• Properly establish and staff ACU
• Institutionalise database and tracking system
• Develop indicators to measure effectiveness
and impact of aid and attribution of resources
• Disseminate Aid Coordination guidelines
• Support districts to coordinate partners and
develop MOUs

9. Food For Thought
• We need to talk about donor dependency:
What is it? How do we define it?
• What impact could ACU have on working
relationships between government and
partners?

10. Thank you! Photo credit: 2011 Sally Zweimueller,
courtesy of Photoshare