The information in this brief is drawn from a case study of the JLN conducted by Mathematica Policy Research in consultation with the THS team and the Evaluation Office of The Rockefeller Foundation. The study, completed in 2016, was undertaken to assess the extent to which the JLN had achieved its goal of becoming a country-driven, sustainable network helping to advance progress toward universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries.
Final Evaluation: The Rockefeller Foundation's Program-Related Investments Po...The Rockefeller Foundation
In 2013, The Rockefeller Foundation funded an independent evaluation of 12 years of PRIs, including 18 transactions totaling $23.9 million deployed both domestically and internationally. The resulting report assesses the portfolio's social and financial performance, as well as opportunities to refine the PRI program strategy and align it with the Foundation's focus areas and grantmaking programs. It also considers the Foundation's contributions to the larger impact investing ecosystem.
Scientists and activists concerned about the future of human society and the planet have pointed to the urgent need for what they term sustainability transitions (Clark 2001; Raskin et al. 2002). In other words, due to the complex, systemic, and interrelated nature of the serious social, economic, and environmental problems confronting us, we need entirely new forms of solutions. Clearly, we humans must learn to think differently about our complex world and to work together in unusual and very strategic new ways. We need to more fully see and understand the systems within which we all exist so that we can learn to identify and create conditions for social innovation.
Building Capacity for Innovation and Systems Change: Innovation Fellowship Pr...The Rockefeller Foundation
Achieving The Rockefeller Foundation’s goals to build resilience and advance inclusive economies requires moving beyond traditional approaches to problem-solving. New ways
of thinking and working are needed in order to have impact at scale. The Rockefeller
Foundation Global Fellowship Program on Social Innovation was designed to enable
leaders to innovate in order to address the underlying causes of complex social and
environmental challenges. With two successive cohorts of Fellowships now complete and
a third underway, the timing is right to reflect on what the Foundation is learning about
building individual and institutional capacity to innovate and drive systems change.
The purpose of this guide is to introduce a promising approach to surfacing insights and supporting innovative thinking within a field in order to explore new and better paths to impact.
The increasing complexity of development, coupled with the widening range of public, nonprofit, and private sector actors and the demand for more timely feedback, has challenged the utility of conventional approaches to M&E in many development contexts. Though emerging ICTs offer promise, the methodological rigor of tech-enabled M&E has sometimes been questioned and viewed as unreliable in contemporary evaluation debates.
Despite this broad reluctance, M&E innovators are already experimenting in this new space. By reflecting on ways in which these innovators have begun to navigate new territory, and by exploring the great potential for technology to further transform and advance traditional evaluation methods, this paper aims to highlight the current state of tech-enabled M&E while also maintaining a critical perspective which recognizes the limitations and inherent risks which evaluators should remain mindful of when engaging in this new and exciting space.
In addition to providing financial support for the paper, The Rockefeller Foundation supported the M&E Tech Conference and Deep Dive in the fall of 2014 to gather M&E practitioners, technology developers, and leadership from a range of organizations and institutions to discuss opportunities, challenges, and a way forward in strengthening capacity in the area of tech-enabled M&E.
Few could argue that stortelling is a powerful tool to inspire action and change, and to influence thought leaders and decision makers. The shape and delivery of stories has also shifted dramatically in the digital era. Long-form narrative and conventionalism journalism now share a stage with messages 140 characters or images that disappear in seconds after they are opened. There have never been more ways to reach audiences, but it's also never been more difficult to really reach them.
The Joint Learning Network (JLN) is a key innovation and central part of The Rockefeller Foundation’s efforts to promote universal health coverage (UHC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) under its Transforming Health Systems (THS) initiative (2009-2017). Launched in 2010, the JLN is a country-led, global learning network that connects practitioners around the globe, in order to advance knowledge and learning about approaches to accelerate country progress toward UHC. The JLN currently includes 27 member countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America that engage in multilateral workshops, country learning exchanges, and virtual dialogues to share experiences and develop tools to support the design and implementation of UHC-oriented reforms. The core vehicles for shared learning and resource development under the JLN are technical initiatives, which are managed by several technical partners and organized around key levers for reaching UHC objectives.
Final Evaluation: The Rockefeller Foundation's Program-Related Investments Po...The Rockefeller Foundation
In 2013, The Rockefeller Foundation funded an independent evaluation of 12 years of PRIs, including 18 transactions totaling $23.9 million deployed both domestically and internationally. The resulting report assesses the portfolio's social and financial performance, as well as opportunities to refine the PRI program strategy and align it with the Foundation's focus areas and grantmaking programs. It also considers the Foundation's contributions to the larger impact investing ecosystem.
Scientists and activists concerned about the future of human society and the planet have pointed to the urgent need for what they term sustainability transitions (Clark 2001; Raskin et al. 2002). In other words, due to the complex, systemic, and interrelated nature of the serious social, economic, and environmental problems confronting us, we need entirely new forms of solutions. Clearly, we humans must learn to think differently about our complex world and to work together in unusual and very strategic new ways. We need to more fully see and understand the systems within which we all exist so that we can learn to identify and create conditions for social innovation.
Building Capacity for Innovation and Systems Change: Innovation Fellowship Pr...The Rockefeller Foundation
Achieving The Rockefeller Foundation’s goals to build resilience and advance inclusive economies requires moving beyond traditional approaches to problem-solving. New ways
of thinking and working are needed in order to have impact at scale. The Rockefeller
Foundation Global Fellowship Program on Social Innovation was designed to enable
leaders to innovate in order to address the underlying causes of complex social and
environmental challenges. With two successive cohorts of Fellowships now complete and
a third underway, the timing is right to reflect on what the Foundation is learning about
building individual and institutional capacity to innovate and drive systems change.
The purpose of this guide is to introduce a promising approach to surfacing insights and supporting innovative thinking within a field in order to explore new and better paths to impact.
The increasing complexity of development, coupled with the widening range of public, nonprofit, and private sector actors and the demand for more timely feedback, has challenged the utility of conventional approaches to M&E in many development contexts. Though emerging ICTs offer promise, the methodological rigor of tech-enabled M&E has sometimes been questioned and viewed as unreliable in contemporary evaluation debates.
Despite this broad reluctance, M&E innovators are already experimenting in this new space. By reflecting on ways in which these innovators have begun to navigate new territory, and by exploring the great potential for technology to further transform and advance traditional evaluation methods, this paper aims to highlight the current state of tech-enabled M&E while also maintaining a critical perspective which recognizes the limitations and inherent risks which evaluators should remain mindful of when engaging in this new and exciting space.
In addition to providing financial support for the paper, The Rockefeller Foundation supported the M&E Tech Conference and Deep Dive in the fall of 2014 to gather M&E practitioners, technology developers, and leadership from a range of organizations and institutions to discuss opportunities, challenges, and a way forward in strengthening capacity in the area of tech-enabled M&E.
Few could argue that stortelling is a powerful tool to inspire action and change, and to influence thought leaders and decision makers. The shape and delivery of stories has also shifted dramatically in the digital era. Long-form narrative and conventionalism journalism now share a stage with messages 140 characters or images that disappear in seconds after they are opened. There have never been more ways to reach audiences, but it's also never been more difficult to really reach them.
The Joint Learning Network (JLN) is a key innovation and central part of The Rockefeller Foundation’s efforts to promote universal health coverage (UHC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) under its Transforming Health Systems (THS) initiative (2009-2017). Launched in 2010, the JLN is a country-led, global learning network that connects practitioners around the globe, in order to advance knowledge and learning about approaches to accelerate country progress toward UHC. The JLN currently includes 27 member countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America that engage in multilateral workshops, country learning exchanges, and virtual dialogues to share experiences and develop tools to support the design and implementation of UHC-oriented reforms. The core vehicles for shared learning and resource development under the JLN are technical initiatives, which are managed by several technical partners and organized around key levers for reaching UHC objectives.
Insights, a product of the ongoing work of The Rockefeller Foundation’s strategic research team, identifies compelling and emerging problem trends and areas of dynamism where there might be opportunities for intervention.
Dispatches from the Frontline: Using Pro-Poor Foresight to Influence Decision...The Rockefeller Foundation
Four of the organizations in The Rockefeller Foundation Searchlight Network—the Centre for Democracy and Development in West Africa, FORO Nacional Internacional in Peru, Noviscape in Thailand, and the South African Node of the Millennium Project in Southern Africa—were recently interviewed to reflect on their work and explore the question, "how has foresight influenced policy?" Their reflections are captured in this report.
Assessing Market-Based Solutions: Lessons from Evaluating a Youth Employment ...The Rockefeller Foundation
Creating employment opportunities for youth is a priority for many countries. How can these opportunities – increasingly situated within market-based approaches to development – generate and sustain positive employment and social outcomes for individuals, their families and communities? This paper reports on an evaluation of a Rockefeller Foundation initiative that provided instructive lessons on how to assess youth employment and digital jobs programs that embed market-based principles.
National Disaster Resilience Competition's Resilience Academies - Emerging In...The Rockefeller Foundation
In 2015 The Rockefeller Foundation partnered with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to launch the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC)
Resilience Academies. Recognizing the salient need to infuse resilience thinking into HUD’s NDRC, these Academies were established to expose state and local governments to new approaches for protecting and promoting the long-term well-being and safety of their communities. A recent independent evaluation of the Academies has provided instructive insights about what works in efforts to build innovative resilience capacity.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s multi-year, $100 million Transforming Health Systems (THS) initiative aims to help developing world countries improve health services and financial protection from the cost of health services.
At the halfway point, the Foundation embarked on this independent evaluation, to record the progress that has been made, examine the strategy and impact to date to identify opportunities for midcourse corrections, as needed.
Stimulating Opportunity: An Evaluation of ARRA-Funded Subsidized Employment P...The Rockefeller Foundation
In 2009, in its efforts to stimulate the economy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Congress included funding in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund (EF) to help states cover the costs of creating new or expanding existing subsidized employment programs. All told, 39 states and the District of Columbia received approval to spend $1.3 billion of the Emergency Fund on subsidized employment programs. While the goals and structures of the TANF EF-supported subsidized employment programs varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, they generally sought to create job opportunities for unemployed individuals so that they could earn immediate income and build experience and skills. Many programs also sought to reduce the costs and risks to employers of hiring during a slack economy and to stimulate local economies. In a short period of time, states implemented large-scale programs, creating more than 260,000 subsidized jobs.
In August 2013, a multidisciplinary group gathered at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center to address the theme of “Community Resilience Through big data and Technology.” Creative and critical thinkers were selected from the technology sector, academia, the arts, humanitarian and ecological spheres. Over ten days, we explored how data could be used to help build community resilience in the face of a range of stresses — environmental, political, social and economic. Large data collection and analysis may support communities by providing them with timely feedback loops on their immediate environment. However, the collection and use of data can also create new vulnerabilities and risks, by enabling discriminating against individuals, skewing evidence, and creating dependencies on centralized infrastructure that may increase a system’s vulnerability. After analyzing these risks and opportunities, we developed a framework to help guide the effective use of data for building community-driven resilience. In this framework, we propose six domains: ethics, governance, science, technology, place and sociocultural context. We believe that by considering all six domains together, organizations can safeguard against predictable failures by exposing project weaknesses from the outset rather than in hindsight.
This guide is designed for program officers to use in their work related to networks, coalitions, and other relationship-based structures as part of their initiatives, program strategies, and outcomes. It offers a set of core components that make up the basics of strategizing, implementing, and sustaining inter-organizational relationships and structures. You can work through the guide from beginning to end or jump to specific issues with which you might be struggling. Every component suggests concrete “actions” or questions that a program officer can apply.
Following its successful partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) post–Hurricane Sandy Rebuild by Design competition, The Rockefeller Foundation launched the Resilience Academies and Capacity-Building Initiative. Designed to support HUD’s National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), the Academies and the Initiative provide eligible state, county, and municipal governments with subject-matter expertise and lessons from the Foundation’s years of on-the-ground disaster recovery programming and mitigation planning. Further, the Foundation hoped to assist these key players in moving global knowledge and resources to meet homegrown needs.
Transforming Health Systems grants tackled four health systems concerns: stewardship and management, financing, information systems, and universal health care (UHC) policy and advocacy. In each target country, the grants provided transformative support to address key challenges.
Bangladesh faced serious constraints in its health sector workforce and weak health information systems. Thirty one grants helped provide training for health care professionals, assess and improve health information systems, and introduce UHC concepts to health sector stakeholders. The interventions increased awareness and commitment to UHC, contributed to improved and standardized medical education, and aided the development of integrated health information systems.
Ghana sought to build public sector capacity to steward and manage its mixed public-private health system. The program partnered with the International Finance Corporation, which assessed the private health sector. Thirteen grants subsequently sought to build capacity within the private sector unit in the Ministry of Health and to create a platform to facilitate engagement with the private sector. The interventions strengthened public sector capacity, increased policy dialogue around UHC, and strengthened the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme.
Rwanda’s health system reforms have sought to increase health service use, reduce out-of-pocket expenditures, and improve health indicators. Eleven grants focused particularly on building eHealth and technology platforms. The grants resulted in improved capacity to develop and implement sustainable eHealth solutions, as well as creation of a custom electronic medical records system and a Health Enterprise Architecture. Most grants included plans for sustainability beyond the life of the grant.
Vietnam wanted to find ways to expand coverage, improve financial protection, and reduce inequality, particularly through improving its provider payment system. Sixteen grants funded research to support reforms and design and test alternative capitation methods. The initiative built capacity in academic and research institutions, strengthened government capacity in health system management and planning, increased support for payment reform, and generated evidence to shape universal health insurance policies.
The Future of Youth Employment report offers an in-depth look at the changing nature of work in the United States—from microwork, to new coordination and automation technologies, and beyond. It explores challenges and opportunities these changes present for poor and vulnerable youth, and suggests policies and actions corporations, governments, and nonprofits can take to ensure positive futures for them.
“Why Information Matters: a foundation for resilience” is
part of Embracing Change: The Critical Role of Information,
funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to
support the Internews’ Center for Innovation and Learning’s
research on the role of information ecosystems in building
resilience. Many thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation, and
especially to Sundaa Bridgett-Jones, Associate Director,
International Development, for vital input and support.
A Presentation made by A.H. Monjurul KABIR during XII International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) at the strategic session on sharing information and knowledge to fight corruption. The key presentation focuses on strtaegies deployed UN - UNDP in particular..
- challenges and opportunities
Applying TQM in Social Projects -Children rights and youth participation as t...InterMedia Consulting
Is it possible to deliver a “Toyota-type” social service?
That is the question that led us to start a research on TQM, lean production methods and children participation. This article is the first article draft, intended to be a “provocative” piece of information that gathers without any kind of scientific design, data from different sources.
Capturing Learning From Tech Innovation Hubs Across AfricaLoren Treisman
This report summarises discussions with staff from technology innovation hubs across seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It explores sustainability, programming, working with the private sector and civil society, impact and advice for funders.
The Joint Learning Network in Action: Spotlight on GhanaHFG Project
More and more countries are implementing complex health systems reforms to achieve universal health coverage. The Joint Learning Network (JLN) is a country-driven network of practitioners and policymakers who together develop knowledge products to bridge the gap between theory and practice, with the goal of extending health care coverage to more than 3 billion people.
The JLN community is comprised of leaders from ministries of health, national health financing agencies, and other key government institutions in 27 Asian, African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries as well as a diverse group of international, regional, and local partners.
On Thursday, September 22, the HFG Project hosted a technical briefing session on the JLN's work on the ground, and about Ghana’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) on their collaboration with the JLN and the HFG project. Speakers included: Amanda Folsom (JLN Program Director, Results for Development), Nathaniel Otoo, (Chief Executive, Ghana NHIA), Dr. Lydia Dsane-Selby (Director, Claims, NHIA), and Chris Lovelace (Principal Associate, International Health, Abt Associates).
Insights, a product of the ongoing work of The Rockefeller Foundation’s strategic research team, identifies compelling and emerging problem trends and areas of dynamism where there might be opportunities for intervention.
Dispatches from the Frontline: Using Pro-Poor Foresight to Influence Decision...The Rockefeller Foundation
Four of the organizations in The Rockefeller Foundation Searchlight Network—the Centre for Democracy and Development in West Africa, FORO Nacional Internacional in Peru, Noviscape in Thailand, and the South African Node of the Millennium Project in Southern Africa—were recently interviewed to reflect on their work and explore the question, "how has foresight influenced policy?" Their reflections are captured in this report.
Assessing Market-Based Solutions: Lessons from Evaluating a Youth Employment ...The Rockefeller Foundation
Creating employment opportunities for youth is a priority for many countries. How can these opportunities – increasingly situated within market-based approaches to development – generate and sustain positive employment and social outcomes for individuals, their families and communities? This paper reports on an evaluation of a Rockefeller Foundation initiative that provided instructive lessons on how to assess youth employment and digital jobs programs that embed market-based principles.
National Disaster Resilience Competition's Resilience Academies - Emerging In...The Rockefeller Foundation
In 2015 The Rockefeller Foundation partnered with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to launch the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC)
Resilience Academies. Recognizing the salient need to infuse resilience thinking into HUD’s NDRC, these Academies were established to expose state and local governments to new approaches for protecting and promoting the long-term well-being and safety of their communities. A recent independent evaluation of the Academies has provided instructive insights about what works in efforts to build innovative resilience capacity.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s multi-year, $100 million Transforming Health Systems (THS) initiative aims to help developing world countries improve health services and financial protection from the cost of health services.
At the halfway point, the Foundation embarked on this independent evaluation, to record the progress that has been made, examine the strategy and impact to date to identify opportunities for midcourse corrections, as needed.
Stimulating Opportunity: An Evaluation of ARRA-Funded Subsidized Employment P...The Rockefeller Foundation
In 2009, in its efforts to stimulate the economy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Congress included funding in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund (EF) to help states cover the costs of creating new or expanding existing subsidized employment programs. All told, 39 states and the District of Columbia received approval to spend $1.3 billion of the Emergency Fund on subsidized employment programs. While the goals and structures of the TANF EF-supported subsidized employment programs varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, they generally sought to create job opportunities for unemployed individuals so that they could earn immediate income and build experience and skills. Many programs also sought to reduce the costs and risks to employers of hiring during a slack economy and to stimulate local economies. In a short period of time, states implemented large-scale programs, creating more than 260,000 subsidized jobs.
In August 2013, a multidisciplinary group gathered at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center to address the theme of “Community Resilience Through big data and Technology.” Creative and critical thinkers were selected from the technology sector, academia, the arts, humanitarian and ecological spheres. Over ten days, we explored how data could be used to help build community resilience in the face of a range of stresses — environmental, political, social and economic. Large data collection and analysis may support communities by providing them with timely feedback loops on their immediate environment. However, the collection and use of data can also create new vulnerabilities and risks, by enabling discriminating against individuals, skewing evidence, and creating dependencies on centralized infrastructure that may increase a system’s vulnerability. After analyzing these risks and opportunities, we developed a framework to help guide the effective use of data for building community-driven resilience. In this framework, we propose six domains: ethics, governance, science, technology, place and sociocultural context. We believe that by considering all six domains together, organizations can safeguard against predictable failures by exposing project weaknesses from the outset rather than in hindsight.
This guide is designed for program officers to use in their work related to networks, coalitions, and other relationship-based structures as part of their initiatives, program strategies, and outcomes. It offers a set of core components that make up the basics of strategizing, implementing, and sustaining inter-organizational relationships and structures. You can work through the guide from beginning to end or jump to specific issues with which you might be struggling. Every component suggests concrete “actions” or questions that a program officer can apply.
Following its successful partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) post–Hurricane Sandy Rebuild by Design competition, The Rockefeller Foundation launched the Resilience Academies and Capacity-Building Initiative. Designed to support HUD’s National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), the Academies and the Initiative provide eligible state, county, and municipal governments with subject-matter expertise and lessons from the Foundation’s years of on-the-ground disaster recovery programming and mitigation planning. Further, the Foundation hoped to assist these key players in moving global knowledge and resources to meet homegrown needs.
Transforming Health Systems grants tackled four health systems concerns: stewardship and management, financing, information systems, and universal health care (UHC) policy and advocacy. In each target country, the grants provided transformative support to address key challenges.
Bangladesh faced serious constraints in its health sector workforce and weak health information systems. Thirty one grants helped provide training for health care professionals, assess and improve health information systems, and introduce UHC concepts to health sector stakeholders. The interventions increased awareness and commitment to UHC, contributed to improved and standardized medical education, and aided the development of integrated health information systems.
Ghana sought to build public sector capacity to steward and manage its mixed public-private health system. The program partnered with the International Finance Corporation, which assessed the private health sector. Thirteen grants subsequently sought to build capacity within the private sector unit in the Ministry of Health and to create a platform to facilitate engagement with the private sector. The interventions strengthened public sector capacity, increased policy dialogue around UHC, and strengthened the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme.
Rwanda’s health system reforms have sought to increase health service use, reduce out-of-pocket expenditures, and improve health indicators. Eleven grants focused particularly on building eHealth and technology platforms. The grants resulted in improved capacity to develop and implement sustainable eHealth solutions, as well as creation of a custom electronic medical records system and a Health Enterprise Architecture. Most grants included plans for sustainability beyond the life of the grant.
Vietnam wanted to find ways to expand coverage, improve financial protection, and reduce inequality, particularly through improving its provider payment system. Sixteen grants funded research to support reforms and design and test alternative capitation methods. The initiative built capacity in academic and research institutions, strengthened government capacity in health system management and planning, increased support for payment reform, and generated evidence to shape universal health insurance policies.
The Future of Youth Employment report offers an in-depth look at the changing nature of work in the United States—from microwork, to new coordination and automation technologies, and beyond. It explores challenges and opportunities these changes present for poor and vulnerable youth, and suggests policies and actions corporations, governments, and nonprofits can take to ensure positive futures for them.
“Why Information Matters: a foundation for resilience” is
part of Embracing Change: The Critical Role of Information,
funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to
support the Internews’ Center for Innovation and Learning’s
research on the role of information ecosystems in building
resilience. Many thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation, and
especially to Sundaa Bridgett-Jones, Associate Director,
International Development, for vital input and support.
A Presentation made by A.H. Monjurul KABIR during XII International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) at the strategic session on sharing information and knowledge to fight corruption. The key presentation focuses on strtaegies deployed UN - UNDP in particular..
- challenges and opportunities
Applying TQM in Social Projects -Children rights and youth participation as t...InterMedia Consulting
Is it possible to deliver a “Toyota-type” social service?
That is the question that led us to start a research on TQM, lean production methods and children participation. This article is the first article draft, intended to be a “provocative” piece of information that gathers without any kind of scientific design, data from different sources.
Capturing Learning From Tech Innovation Hubs Across AfricaLoren Treisman
This report summarises discussions with staff from technology innovation hubs across seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It explores sustainability, programming, working with the private sector and civil society, impact and advice for funders.
The Joint Learning Network in Action: Spotlight on GhanaHFG Project
More and more countries are implementing complex health systems reforms to achieve universal health coverage. The Joint Learning Network (JLN) is a country-driven network of practitioners and policymakers who together develop knowledge products to bridge the gap between theory and practice, with the goal of extending health care coverage to more than 3 billion people.
The JLN community is comprised of leaders from ministries of health, national health financing agencies, and other key government institutions in 27 Asian, African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries as well as a diverse group of international, regional, and local partners.
On Thursday, September 22, the HFG Project hosted a technical briefing session on the JLN's work on the ground, and about Ghana’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) on their collaboration with the JLN and the HFG project. Speakers included: Amanda Folsom (JLN Program Director, Results for Development), Nathaniel Otoo, (Chief Executive, Ghana NHIA), Dr. Lydia Dsane-Selby (Director, Claims, NHIA), and Chris Lovelace (Principal Associate, International Health, Abt Associates).
Organizations implementing knowledge strategies generally go through five stages: pre-implementation, implementation, reinvigoration, inculcation, and holistic. This presentation details steps ADB took in 2008–2011 to initiate, develop, standardize, optimize, and innovate knowledge management and learning.
The Transforming Health Systems (THS) initiative was one of The Rockefeller Foundation’s largest global health initiatives. Aligned with the Foundation’s mission to promote the well-being of humanity, THS aimed to improve the health status and financial resilience of poor and otherwise vulnerable populations through activities promoting improved health systems performance and the expansion of universal health coverage (UHC).
This report synthesizes findings from a five-year, multicomponent evaluation of the THS initiative. The objectives of the evaluation were to assess i) the effectiveness of the three core strategies – global advocacy, regional networks, and country-level investments – employed under THS to advance progress toward UHC in low- and middle-income countries in four focus countries, ii) the overall effectiveness and influence of the initiative, and iii) the Foundation’s legacy in the UHC arena. A key component of the evaluation was to document lessons learned from achievements and challenges to inform the development of future initiatives at the Foundation.
Overall, the evaluation found the THS initiative to be successful in its efforts to activate a global movement to accelerate progress toward UHC. The Foundation catalyzed and shaped the global UHC movement and, ultimately, influenced the inclusion of UHC in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the post-2015 agenda. It also created enduring cross-learning platforms and tools to support country progress toward the SDGs’ UHC targets. Although THS gained less traction in advancing UHC through its focus country investments, its success in making UHC a global development target and creating networks and coalitions to support UHC reform efforts in LMICs will likely have country-level impacts for years to come.
This is a presentation made at the Asian eHealth Professionals Network by Rajendra Pratap Gupta on the Innovation Working Group Asia which he co-chairs.
The Governance of Quality: Defining Experiences and Success Factors in Instit...HFG Project
he objective of the activity is to assess and document global experiences in institutional relationships that govern quality health services as well as provide practical and action-oriented guidance to countries on success factors in structuring institutional roles, responsibilities, and relationships. Countries seeking to develop new governance structures or to improve existing structures would have a resource, based on the results of documented country experiences, to successful approaches and lessons learned in structuring institutional roles, responsibilities, and relationships to enable, foster, and ensure ongoing quality.
The Governance of Quality: Defining Experiences and Success Factors in Instit...HFG Project
The objective of the activity is to assess and document global experiences in institutional relationships that govern quality health services as well as provide practical and action-oriented guidance to countries on success factors in structuring institutional roles, responsibilities, and relationships. Countries seeking to develop new governance structures or to improve existing structures would have a resource, based on the results of documented country experiences, to successful approaches and lessons learned in structuring institutional roles, responsibilities, and relationships to enable, foster, and ensure ongoing quality.
Putting “Impact” at the Center of Impact Investing: A Case Study of How Green...The Rockefeller Foundation
More than ever before, investors are looking to put their money where their values are. As a result, impact investing has burgeoned into an over $100 billion industry in just over ten years. But how do impact investors know whether their money is truly having a positive impact on people and
the planet? How can these investors better manage their results, and use material data – both positive and negative – about social and environmental performance to maximize their impact?
This case study documents the journey of one organization, Green Canopy Homes – and its financing arm, Green Canopy Capital – toward more systematically thinking about, measuring, and managing its impact. While developing the impact thesis for its resource-efficient homes, Green Canopy applied a theory of change tool, an approach common within the social sector, to systematically map the causal pathways between its strategies and intended impact. Its rationale for adopting this approach was simple: use it to maximize impact, and understand and minimize possible harm. The tool also effectively positioned Green Canopy to measure and communicate about its social and environmental performance, and to make client-centric adaptations to its business.
The case study provides an illuminating example of how investors can adapt theory of change to serve their impact management needs. By demonstrating the relevance and transferability of this tool for articulating, measuring, and managing impact, the hope is that this case study can contribute to strengthening other investors’ approaches, in turn contributing to building the evidence base for the “impact” of impact investments.
Electricity is one of the most important drivers of socio-economic development, yet up to 250 million Indians are not connected to the national grid, and the majority of rural consumers have grossly unreliable power supply. More than solar lanterns and home systems that power a few lights and fans, among the most efficient ways to provide reliable electricity in remote areas is through local mini-grids. India has several run by energy service companies and usually funded by philanthropic capital.
Most of these enterprises have not been able to scale-up their impact meaningfully because the risk of the national grid entering their markets can render their mini-grid unviable. Rather than seeing “grid versus mini-grid” as a policy choice, Beyond Off-Grid: Integrating Mini-Grids with India’s Evolving Electricity System explores ways we can encourage more of both: to have the grid operate in partnership with a network of distributed mini-grids to accelerate electrification.
What does the roadmap for this ‘interconnection’ of our energy system look like? How can we leverage both government and private investment? What are the different interconnection models and their commercial, technical and regulatory implications? Where do mini-grids go from here? This timely report – commissioned by the Asha Impact Trust in collaboration with Shakti Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation – provides a multi-layered perspective to address these questions based on extensive research, wide-ranging policymaker interactions, and our investment experience evaluating mini-grid operators.
We cannot achieve significant poverty reduction without stimulating electricity consumption, which fuels income-generating activities in the modern economy. In India, about 237 million people have little or no access to reliable electricity -- more than 90% of them live in rural areas. This severely constrains economic opportunities. Addressing this chronic problem requires going beyond simply expanding the government grid.
Mini-grids have emerged as a viable solution to complement and integrate with the national grid, and can support the government in achieving its ‘Power for All’ vision. The Rockefeller Foundation’s Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) initiative is the first to pursue the creation of a mini-grid sector that is robust enough to fuel commercial enterprises and drive economic development beyond just one village. Smart Power India (SPI), which leads the SPRD initiative in India, has proven that mini-grids can be swiftly deployed to deliver reliable power, and has likewise demonstrated that mini-grids can spur economic activity needed to help people lift themselves out of poverty.
This issue of Smart Power Connect, published after the hundredth village was connected to Smart Power, explores the efforts, success stories, and challenges faced in SPI’s mini-grid journey to date. With insights from government agencies, policy experts, energy service companies, investors and mini-grid customers themselves, this publication provides a glimpse into the potential of the mini-grids to transform the energy sector – and how rural communities are embracing and utilizing clean, reliable and adequate power to improve their lives.
Today, nearly 240 million Indians lack access to reliable electricity, and 90 percent of them live in rural areas. Despite the government’s ambitious plans to accelerate universal electrification by 2018, challenges remain in providing reliable and sufficient energy to the last mile. Distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions, and in particular mini-grids, have emerged as a reliable complement to the government’s electrification programs by providing rural areas with access to reliable and high-quality electricity at a much faster pace. The growth of the DRE sector will be an important fillip to the last-mile challenge.
Smart Power India (SPI) is an organization that implements The Rockefeller Foundation’s Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) to build viable and commercially oriented mini-grid ecosystems in India. This report explains the Smart Power mini-grid model and explores the drivers of success. Analyzing early data from a cohort of the 106 Smart Power mini-grids operational as of 2017, SPI provides data on commercial performance as well as recommendations to further accelerate the rural mini-grid business.
Encouragingly, the report reveals that the 23 top-cohort plants have an average unit-level profit margin of approximately 30% after the first year of operations. It also highlights that villages receiving electricity from SPRD mini-grids show early signs of social and economic impact (also see Understanding the Impact of Rural Electrification.) SPI has observed that site selection, a strong focus on operations, support for demand generation and marketing optimized for rural customers, are critical to the continued improvement of mini-grid operations. Finally, the report provides recommendations to address external challenges such as the need for increased financing, stronger policy support and further technological innovation.
A successful philanthropic initiative depends not just on the strategy pursued – but also on how that strategy is implemented. Implementation considerations can vary significantly based on the shape of an initiative – starting a new organization can look very different than investing in a portfolio of existing organizations. This report looks at four “models” for implementing initiatives. These don’t represent an exhaustive set of potential models to pursue, or even the most high potential models. Rather, these are four examples of models, each of which has significant potential for impact when chosen wisely and executed well. The report outlines the considerations involved in choosing to pursue each of these models and findings on how to implement them, drawn from real-world experience.
Globally, over 1 billion people still live without electricity. Roughly 237 million of these people are in India. Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) is a $75 million initiative aimed at accelerating development in India’s least electrified states. Through the deployment of decentralized renewable energy mini-grids, SPRD works to accelerate the growth of rural economies, while at the same time improving the lives and livelihoods of poor and marginalized families and communities. With access to energy, individuals, households, and communities can generate economic opportunities and enhance their quality of life. Understanding the Impact of Rural Electrification has generated significant insights on how SPRD is having an impact on the lives of villagers, and what more is needed to sustain, grow, and scale these gains. We’ve learned that households and businesses are slowly but surely moving up the energy ladder; enterprises are expanding and new ones are being created as a result of energy access, and women are feeling safer and more mobile after dark. In this report, we also introduce the innovative GDP+ approach which, which quantifies and measures the social, economic and environmental gains of access to electricity in GDP terms. The initial findings here show that SPRD villages experienced an $18.50 per capita increase in GDP+.
With 62.5 million tons of food wasted in the United States each year, there is much work to be done to
bring about substantial changes in the food industry that will create a more efficient food system and
help preserve the environment. This guide describes promising opportunities to reduce food waste
in three areas—packaging, food retail, and home kitchens—and discusses a number of solutions that
could be piloted, validated, and scaled to significantly reduce food waste in America.
In December 2016, The Rockefeller Foundation’s African Regional Office hosted the Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Convening in Nairobi, Kenya. Over 150 delegates and 40 speakers participated, sharing insights, examples, and engaging in debate and discussion on why and how ‘resilience’ can enhance Africa’s ongoing development.
Launched in 2008, the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) Initiative aimed to catalyze attention, funding, and action for building the climate change resilience of vulnerable cities and people in Asia. Given that current estimates forecast that about 55 percent of Asia’s population will be living in urban centers by 2030, the ACCCRN Initiative is built on the premise that cities can take actions to build climate resilience – including drainage and flood management, ecosystem strengthening,
increasing awareness, and disease control – which can greatly improve the lives of poor and vulnerable people, not just in times of shock or stress, but every day.
At the time the initiative was launched, the concept of urban resilience and models for implementing it were nascent and emergent. ACCCRN proved to be an important experiment and “learning lab” for the Foundation and its grantees and partners to build capacity in cities to better understand and implement resilience solutions to the often devastating shocks and stresses of climate change. The initiative was effective in the initial 10 ACCCRN cities and, later, in an additional 40 cities.
As part of our Foundation-wide commitment to learning and accountability to our grantees, partners and stakeholders, we undertook an independent evaluation of the work of the initiative in 2014 to assess what worked well and not so well in ACCCRN. Conducted by Verulam Associates and ITAD, who also conducted a mid-term evaluation of the ACCCRN Initiative in 2011, this summative evaluation highlights successes, but also provides an important moment to reflect on the challenges we faced and on what we can do better or differently going forward.
As part of its overall mission of promoting the well-being of humanity throughout the world, The Rockefeller Foundation developed the goal of advancing inclusive economies. The framing of this goal is deliberate: the word inclusive stresses the need to overcome disadvantage while the choice of economies versus growth suggests the need to consider all dimensions of economic life. This executive summary outlines efforts to develop a framework to better understand and measure the characteristics of an inclusive economy. It includes:
• The evolution of the concept of an inclusive economy
• Key lessons learned from an analysis of indicator initiatives
related to measuring an inclusive economy
• A recommended indicator framework composed of 5 broad
characteristics, 15 sub-categories, and 57 indicators
• Implications for future work
For more details, a full report is available at:
inclusiveeconomies.org
Situating the Next Generation of Impact Measurement and Evaluation for Impact...The Rockefeller Foundation
Situating the Next Generation of Impact Measurement and Evaluation for Impact Investing contends that measurement practices need to evolve by borrowing from the strengths of both private business and social sector evaluation. Suggesting that an impact thesis is a crucial anchor for impact measurement strategies, the paper offers several measurement approaches in use today. The ‘next generation’ of impact measurement and evaluation must stem from a commitment of impact investors to strengthen evidence for their social returns alongside the evidence for financial returns.
The goal of the CEO & Gender Media Audit was to understand the media coverage of CEOs in various situations and determine if there are differences in the way male and female CEOs are covered.
Equity and Inclusive Growth from a Development Perspective is essential reading for development and evaluation practitioners. It provides a concise history and critical examination of the concepts related to growth, poverty, and equity. These three foundational elements of contemporary development theory and practice are at the root of The Rockefeller Foundation’s movement toward advancing inclusive economies and building resilience.
The paper offers many insights about the measurement and evaluation of programs. It illuminates the debate surrounding ways to assess well-being beyond GDP. It covers the many ways to approach the measurement of poverty and the most commonly used indexes. Finally, it examines the important distinction between equity and equality and the policy implications of pursuing equity.
In 2013, in response to the opportunities presented by Africa’s rapidly growing youth population and the ubiquity of information and communications technologies across the continent, The Rockefeller Foundation launched its Digital Jobs Africa initiative. The initiative aims to enable young people to access jobs by providing them with in-demand technology-related and other employability skills. Now just past its two-year mark, the Foundation is taking stock of the rich learning that has emerged from the initiative.
The Rockefeller Foundation has long recognized the importance of meaningful engagement of the private sector in addressing many of the world’s most complex problems. While many social sector leaders understand that engaging the private sector matters, far fewer understand how to do so, or the key questions one should consider before starting down this path of cross-sector collaboration. For instance: Why would a network want to include a company? Or conversely, why would a company want to participate in a network focused on social impact? Can social impact efforts deliver business value? What makes network relationships durable? And ultimately, what are the different needs around accountability, leadership, governance and mindset? To answer questions such as these, The Foundation and our partners at Monitor Institute, a part of Deloitte Consulting LLP, have created “PARTICIPATE: The power of involving business in social impact networks”—a handbook for social change leaders aspiring to effectively engage the private sector as authentic participants in the pursuit of social impact.
In 2015, The Rockefeller Foundation collaborated with several partners to begin developing incentive-based mechanisms to address competition for freshwater, and to bring human water use back in balance with the water needs of freshwater ecosystems in order to build long-term resilience. The early solutions that emerged, and the wider lessons from the group’s work, are captured in this report.
It’s no secret that women have historically faced greater barriers than men when it comes to fully participating in the economy. Across geographies and income levels, disparities between men and women persist in the form of pay gaps, uneven opportunities for advancement, and unbalanced representation in important decision-making.
Women in leadership have proven to be beneficial for both the company and individual employees. Women bring different perspectives and approaches to business, resulting in a more inclusive workplace and often better performance for the company. There is even evidence to suggest that when women lead, pay gaps between men and women narrow and newly hired employees are offered more equitable pay, regardless of gender.
Learn more: http://bit.ly/RF100x25
Achieving Universal Electrification in India: A Roadmap for Rural Solar Mini-...The Rockefeller Foundation
Access to electricity has been an essential force in India’s recent growth and progress. If India is to become a true leader on the global stage, such progress needs to continue, particularly for low-income rural communities. Unlike in decades past, however, India can no longer provide electricity to its citizens purely from conventional sources like coal, gas and large hydroelectric dams. It is time to turn the page, and to embrace the new generation of clean technologies.
The sheer number of Indian citizens without reliable electricity underscores the magnitude of the challenge. At the same time, the scale of the Indian market presents a tremendous opportunity for innovative solutions. Solar power has made inroads into the Indian market, and can soon become cost competitive with conventional sources. However, a number of technological and business innovations are needed to make it affordable, especially for India’s rural poor. This report analyses the underlying challenges in making solar power a reality in rural
This report analyses the underlying challenges in making solar power a reality in rural India and identifies what actions can be taken to overcome them. In doing so, it lays a strong foundation for helping India achieve universal electrification. It also introduces a roadmap for helping India become a true global leader in clean energy, not just for itself, but also for the rest of the developing world.
Navigating the Health Insurance Market_ Understanding Trends and Options.pdfEnterprise Wired
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Global launch of the Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index 2nd wave – alongside...ILC- UK
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Alongside the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva on 28 May 2024, we launched the second version of our Index, allowing us to track progress and give new insights into what needs to be done to keep populations healthier for longer.
The speakers included:
Professor Orazio Schillaci, Minister of Health, Italy
Dr Hans Groth, Chairman of the Board, World Demographic & Ageing Forum
Professor Ilona Kickbusch, Founder and Chair, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute and co-chair, World Health Summit Council
Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director, Country Health Policies and Systems Division, World Health Organisation EURO
Dr Marta Lomazzi, Executive Manager, World Federation of Public Health Associations
Dr Shyam Bishen, Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare and Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum
Dr Karin Tegmark Wisell, Director General, Public Health Agency of Sweden
We understand the unique challenges pickleball players face and are committed to helping you stay healthy and active. In this presentation, we’ll explore the three most common pickleball injuries and provide strategies for prevention and treatment.
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How many patients does case series should have In comparison to case reports.pdfpubrica101
Pubrica’s team of researchers and writers create scientific and medical research articles, which may be important resources for authors and practitioners. Pubrica medical writers assist you in creating and revising the introduction by alerting the reader to gaps in the chosen study subject. Our professionals understand the order in which the hypothesis topic is followed by the broad subject, the issue, and the backdrop.
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This content provides an overview of preventive pediatrics. It defines preventive pediatrics as preventing disease and promoting children's physical, mental, and social well-being to achieve positive health. It discusses antenatal, postnatal, and social preventive pediatrics. It also covers various child health programs like immunization, breastfeeding, ICDS, and the roles of organizations like WHO, UNICEF, and nurses in preventive pediatrics.
Antibiotic Stewardship by Anushri Srivastava.pptxAnushriSrivastav
Stewardship is the act of taking good care of something.
Antimicrobial stewardship is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, reduces microbial resistance, and decreases the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
WHO launched the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) in 2015 to fill knowledge gaps and inform strategies at all levels.
ACCORDING TO apic.org,
Antimicrobial stewardship is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, reduces microbial resistance, and decreases the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
ACCORDING TO pewtrusts.org,
Antibiotic stewardship refers to efforts in doctors’ offices, hospitals, long term care facilities, and other health care settings to ensure that antibiotics are used only when necessary and appropriate
According to WHO,
Antimicrobial stewardship is a systematic approach to educate and support health care professionals to follow evidence-based guidelines for prescribing and administering antimicrobials
In 1996, John McGowan and Dale Gerding first applied the term antimicrobial stewardship, where they suggested a causal association between antimicrobial agent use and resistance. They also focused on the urgency of large-scale controlled trials of antimicrobial-use regulation employing sophisticated epidemiologic methods, molecular typing, and precise resistance mechanism analysis.
Antimicrobial Stewardship(AMS) refers to the optimal selection, dosing, and duration of antimicrobial treatment resulting in the best clinical outcome with minimal side effects to the patients and minimal impact on subsequent resistance.
According to the 2019 report, in the US, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur each year, and more than 35000 people die. In addition to this, it also mentioned that 223,900 cases of Clostridoides difficile occurred in 2017, of which 12800 people died. The report did not include viruses or parasites
VISION
Being proactive
Supporting optimal animal and human health
Exploring ways to reduce overall use of antimicrobials
Using the drugs that prevent and treat disease by killing microscopic organisms in a responsible way
GOAL
to prevent the generation and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Doing so will preserve the effectiveness of these drugs in animals and humans for years to come.
being to preserve human and animal health and the effectiveness of antimicrobial medications.
to implement a multidisciplinary approach in assembling a stewardship team to include an infectious disease physician, a clinical pharmacist with infectious diseases training, infection preventionist, and a close collaboration with the staff in the clinical microbiology laboratory
to prevent antimicrobial overuse, misuse and abuse.
to minimize the developme
1. THE
RockefellerFoundation
EVALUATIONOFFICE
The information in this brief is drawn from a case
study of the JLN conducted by Mathematica Policy
Research in consultation with the THS team and the
Evaluation Office of The Rockefeller Foundation. The
study, completed in 2016, was undertaken to assess
the extent to which the JLN had achieved its goal
of becoming a country-driven, sustainable network
helping to advance progress toward universal health
coverage in low- and middle-income countries.
Lessons from The Rockefeller Foundation’s
Transforming Health Systems Initiative
Case Study Brief
Joint Learning Network for
Universal Health Coverage
The Rockefeller Foundation’s Transforming Health Systems (THS) initiative seeks to
improve health and health equity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) through
activities that promote improved health systems performance and the expansion of
universal health coverage (UHC). A key innovation under the initiative is the Joint
Learning Network (JLN), which connects country practitioners from member countries
across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America to advance knowledge and learning about
approaches to accelerate progress toward UHC.
The idea for the JLN emerged in 2009 from key
discussions held by the Foundation and its partners
with global and country leaders about factors
facilitating and inhibiting progress on UHC reforms.
These conversations brought to light a critical
unexploited opportunity for advancing UHC – while
several countries were engaged in health system
reforms to achieve UHC, there were few platforms
available to share experiences and exchange ideas
and best practices.
The Rockefeller Foundation set out to address
this gap in 2010 by launching the JLN, a global
practitioner-to-practitioner learning network that
facilitates joint problem-solving among LMICs
tackling similar challenges on the pathway to UHC.
The core learning vehicles under the JLN are
technical initiatives, which facilitate knowledge-
sharing and resource development around key
levers for reaching UHC objectives, including:
provider payment mechanisms, health information
technology, primary health care, population
coverage, quality improvement, and health financing
innovations. To address country-specific learning
needs,theJLNhasalsoestablishedaflexiblefunding
pool, known as the “Joint Learning Fund” (JLF). The
JLN is managed by a Network Coordinating Team
of technical partners, which implement the strategic
direction set by a global Steering Group of member
countries, technical partners, and network funders.
At the country level, country core groups (CCGs),
comprised of staff at government agencies, organize
and facilitate country participation in the JLN.
MARCH 2017
2. 2
Since 2010, The Rockefeller Foundation has provided
nearly $19 million in grant funding to JLN partner
organizations, which has supported the design,
launch, and coordination of the network, as well as
the facilitation of cross-country and country-specific
learning activities. As a founding funder, the Foundation
has also worked to strengthen the JLN’s sustainability
by building support for the network among other donors,
including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the
World Bank, and the German Society for International
Cooperation (GIZ).
The approach and activities of the JLN have been
independently assessed on two occasions. In 2012,
the Pact Institute conducted a review, which found
that the JLN was positively influencing knowledge,
information sharing, and momentum around UHC in
its member countries, but identified a need for greater
country engagement in the network. These findings
eventually informed a structural reorganization of the
network aimed at strengthening country participation
and leadership. In 2016, Mathematica Policy Research
conducted a case study that built on Pact’s review.
Presented below are key achievements and lessons
highlighted in the case study.
JLN achievements
The JLN has grown into a large, highly valued global
network through an iterative process that has been
responsive to country needs. As more countries
commit to UHC, demand for practical guidance on
implementation of UHC reforms has grown. The JLN has
responded effectively to this unmet need, adapting its
approach over time to better serve the needs of LMICs.
Reflecting the network’s high perceived value and a
growing demand for the resources it provides, the JLN’s
2014 call for associate members resulted in expressions
of interest from 40 LMICs across the globe, and the
network grew from 6 to 27 members between 2010 and
2016.
The introduction of the country-led Steering Group
and CCGs has increased country engagement in
the network. Through the Steering Group, country
representatives now proactively shape key decisions
regarding country membership, technical priorities,
and funding allocations. CCGs have also helped to
increase member country engagement – by ensuring
that practitioners in key government agencies meet
regularly to discuss priority learning needs for their
country and how to leverage the JLN to address those
needs.
Technical initiatives and collaboratives have
developed a large number of knowledge products and
tools to support country reform efforts. Knowledge
products have generally focused on documenting
country reform experiences and learning. Tools have
focused on providing practical guidance and templates
to support data-driven reform processes. They have
included guides to better define health system issues,
manuals for conducting critical analytical exercises
(such as costing of health services), simulation models to
understand the implications of different reform options,
and specifications for IT systems.
Member countries have used the JLF to support
learning activities, but it remains an underused
resource. Country members have used JLF funding to
support their participation in workshops, study tours,
and other learning activities. However, the volume and
quality of applications for learning activities has been
lower than expected. This is due, in part, to competing
JLN partners and activities
supported by THS
• ACCESS Health: Network coordination and
management of the JLF and CCGs
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement:
Facilitation of the Quality Technical Initiative in
partnership with NICE International
• PATH: Facilitation of the Information Technology
Technical Initiative in partnership with
PharmAccess
• Results for Development: Network coordination,
knowledge management, and facilitation of
the Provider Payment Mechanisms Technical
Initiative
• World Bank: Network coordination, strategic
guidance for CCGs, and sustainability planning
3. 3
demands on members’ time, but also to the requirement
that the funds be used to address issues of common
interest to multiple countries, which can be challenging
for country-level practitioners to identify.
Countrypractitionersinthenetworkregularlydrawon
one another’s knowledge and experience to facilitate
reform in their countries. Practitioners often reach out
to others in the network to brainstorm and troubleshoot
issues and obtain models or templates for programs,
standards, and processes. Informal interactions among
country practitioners have also helped germinate policy
ideas. Members are motivated to test new solutions to
long-standing health system issues when they hear
about approaches working in other countries.
Countries have used JLN tools and resources to
design, strengthen, and advocate for UHC-oriented
programs and reform efforts. Several member
countries have drawn on JLN tools to collect
comprehensive, reliable data needed to engage in
evidence based decision-making and reform. The tools
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
MAY 2009
Stakeholders from Ghana, India, Vietnam, and Thailand, and
representatives from The Rockefeller Foundation, R4D, and
other global development partners meet in Geneva to
discuss the need for cross-learning among countries working
towards UHC.
NOVEMBER 2010
A secretariat is formed to manage the JLN. It includes
ACCESS Health, GIZ, the International Health Policy
Program, Thailand, R4D, and the World Bank.
DECEMBER 2012
Pact is contracted to conduct an independent
strategic review of the network.
MARCH 2013
Pact findings are reviewed in Bellagio, Italy, to develop a new
vision and management structure for the JLN, which entailed
the creation of a country-led Steering Group to oversee the
secretariat (later known as the Network Coordinating Team),
and country core groups.
JANUARY 2015
The JLN launches a deepened partnership with the World
Bank, with seed funding from The Rockefeller Foundation to
strengthen the Bank’s network coordination function and its
work on network sustainability.
MARCH 2015
The JLN website launches a member portal, which allows
members to connect with each other, contribute to
discussions, access JLN resources, and retrieve information
on JLN events.
JULY 2016
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joins the Steering
Group.
AUGUST 2011
Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, and
Nigeria join the network as full
members.
NOVEMBER 2014
13 new countries join the JLN as associate
members: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Japan, Kosovo, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia,
Morocco, Namibia, Senegal, and Sudan.
NOVEMBER 2015
Bahrain and South Korea
join the JLN as associate
members.
APRIL 2016
Liberia becomes an associate member.
JULY 2016
Peru and Yemen become associate
members.
Membership Governance
MARCH 2014
The JLN issues a call for associate members.
FEBRUARY 2010
Delegations from the founding members –
Ghana, India, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Thailand, and Vietnam – convene for a pilot
Joint Learning Workshop in Manesar, India.
FIGURE 1. Key milestones in the formation and development of the JLN
4. 4
have helped members design new or strengthen existing
policies, programs, and systems, such as health insurance
policies, health protection schemes, and health insurance
information systems. Data collected through JLN tools
have also helped country representatives make their case
to policymakers for new approaches or reform efforts.
While the network primarily aims to catalyze reform
through learning, in a few cases it has also provided
long-termtechnicalassistancethathasbeeneffective
in advancing reforms. In one example, the technical
partner running the Provider Payment Mechanisms
technical initiative spent six months in Vietnam helping
practitioners design a pilot of evidence-based capitation
models – the findings of which will inform implementation
of the national health insurance law.
JLN lessons learned
The most successful technical initiatives are those
that have embraced the network’s joint learning
and co-creation approaches. The “bottom-up”
approach that is common to most JLN technical
initiatives focuses on listening closely to practitioners,
understanding their challenges and constraints,
facilitating cross-country dialogue on potential
solutions to those challenges, and developing tools and
resources to inform and facilitate reform. This approach
ensures greater country ownership of reform processes
than more traditional, “top-down” training and technical
assistance approaches.
Technical initiatives that include steady engagement
with a core group of practitioners, together with
sustained, long-term external funding, have been
most successful in developing useful tools for
advancing UHC. Continuous engagement in a technical
initiative by a dedicated group of practitioners builds
strong relationships that enhance sharing and learning.
Initiativesthathaddifferentpeopleattendingeachoftheir
events found it difficult to build momentum and generate
the common knowledge and understanding needed to
produce resources. Likewise, continuous, secure, and
adequate funding was instrumental in helping technical
initiatives maintain momentum and develop useful tools
to inform UHC-oriented reforms.
Country participation in the JLN varies across
member countries due to differences in the strength
and performance of CCGs. Country participation in the
JLN and the performance of CCGs have been influenced
by a variety of factors. For example, CCGs have proven
most effective when they involve agencies and individuals
closely connected to a country’s UHC effort. They also
operate more effectively if senior government officials
within a country engage with the JLN and support
and facilitate meaningful participation. Effectiveness
of the CCGs is often hindered by high rates of turnover
in participating government agencies and the limited
bandwidth of individual participants. Finally, CCGs are
more effective when they can engage all agencies with a
stake in UHC, for instance, both the ministry of health and
the national health insurance agency of a member country.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s role
The Rockefeller Foundation has played a catalytic
role – as a founding funder and as a thought partner –
in the development of the JLN. The Foundation’s early
recognitionoftheneedforaccessiblecountry-to-country
learning and support, and its financial, strategic, and
technical support over the years, has enabled the JLN to
evolve into the dynamic and valued network it is today.
In addition to investing substantial financial resources
JointLearningNetworkforUniversalHealthCoverage
5. 5
in the development and expansion of the network, the
Foundation helped design and refine the joint learning
model, provided input on the JLN’s technical work, and
took the lead on sustainability planning.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s flexible and
collaborative approach allowed the network to evolve
organically to address country needs. The Foundation
intentionally kept the scope of work for its JLN grants
relatively open and loosely defined. This allowed grantees
the flexibility and creative space they needed to identify
country priorities and knowledge gaps, and develop and
iterate on appropriate strategies for addressing those
needs.
Implications for other learning
networks
Effective technical facilitation requires not only
in-depth technical knowledge but also the ability to
listen to and learn from practitioners’ experiences,
elicit and synthesize lessons, and co-create useful
knowledge products. The JLN approach to learning is
distinct and differs from traditional knowledge sharing
based on training. It emphasizes the importance of
“co-creation” of knowledge, which requires technical
experts to be good listeners, skillfully distill lessons
from practitioners’ experiences, and use their technical
knowledge to inform country-driven and crowdsourced
solutions. This collaborative learning approach ensures
that the tools produced are both useful to and used by
member countries.
Country engagement has the greatest impact when
senior government officials and all agencies with
a stake in the relevant policy reforms are involved.
Buy-in from senior officials can help ensure that mid-level
technocrats can participate in network activities and
increase the likelihood that network resources are used to
effectpolicychange.However,strongcountryengagement
also requires that the right mid-level officials (from the
right agencies) are invited and agree to participate in
network activities. Institutional diversity, which has been
a challenge for the JLN, ensures that all key players are
engaged in policy discussions and on board with proposed
changes that emerge from network learning.
High turnover among government officials and poor
coordination among government agencies often
hinder country engagement, but can be addressed by
providing local logistical support or integrating CCGs
into existing government committees. Networks
need to build in resilience to institutional challenges to
ensure sustained, meaningful country engagement. High
staff turnover, for example, can result in intermittent
engagement. Another challenge is fragmentation of
UHC efforts among multiple agencies that are not
well coordinated. The JLN has attempted to address
these challenges through designated “local learning
coordinators” who help ensure regular meetings of the
CCGs and coordinate across different agencies. It has
also tried, where possible, to integrate the CCGs into
existing government-run UHC coordination committees,
since government bodies already working toward UHC
are less susceptible to staff turnover and institutional
friction than newly constituted CCGs.
Flexible funding, provided for targeted learning
activities, can be useful for policy reform processes,
but only if funding is used strategically for activities
designed to achieve results. For many participating
countries, the pool of untied funds made available
through the Joint Learning Fund was one of JLN’s most
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6. 6
attractive features. Some member countries have
been able to leverage JLF funds effectively to address
emerging reform issues and questions. Others, however,
have been unable to prepare goal-oriented proposals
for JLF funding. A JLN coordinating partner now
provides targeted technical assistance to countries on
how to tie learning activities to policy objectives.
Collaborative learning can help spark ideas and
generate resources for reform efforts, but it often
needs to be supplemented with targeted technical
assistance to ensure that learning is translated into
policy action. The JLN approach has helped countries
identify and frame priority issues, assess technical and
organizational needs, gather ideas from the experience
of other countries, and develop tools and resources
tailored to their needs. However, as reform efforts are
launched and implemented, countries may require
more targeted, country-specific technical assistance.
Proactively connecting countries to technical experts
who can provide this type of tailored support may
accelerate country-level change.
To ensure network sustainability, outreach to donors
must begin early and should be intensive and
far-reaching. The continuous operation of the JLN into
thefuturewilldependonmarshalingfundingfromother
donors. Networks need to ensure adequate, long-term
funding by building relationships with a diversity of
partners, including multilateral institutions, bilateral
donors, private foundations, and other multi-country
learning partnerships. The Rockefeller Foundation has
provided nearly $19 million in grant funding to the JLN,
about 70 percent of the network’s total donor funding.
With the end of the THS initiative, however, the JLN
has sought to build partnerships with and bring in
funding from new sources. In turn, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, GIZ, and the World Bank have all
stepped up their funding for key network functions.
While these are positive steps, starting the outreach
earlier might have ensured a stronger funding base to
support the network’s growing membership.
For more information, please see the full JLN case study
available on The Rockefeller Foundation’s website, or
contact the Foundation’s Monitoring and Evaluation
Office at: rfevaluation@rockfound.org.
Monitoring and Evaluation at
The Rockefeller Foundation
Committed to supporting learning, accountability
and performance improvements, the Foundation’s
Monitoring and Evaluation Team works with staff,
grantees and partners to monitor and evaluate the
Foundation’s pathways to impact in the short- and
long-term, and to capture lessons about what works
and what doesn’t across the Foundation’s diverse
portfolio.
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