State Approach for Improved Global Fund Management

Description of the Project:

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria provides resources to support resource-constrained countries to implement national plans and meet health goals towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The 2021-2023 Global Fund Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) grant to Nigeria contributes to making foundational changes to strengthen the health systems in Nigeria. The State Engagement approach of the RSSH grant 2021-2023 is designed to contribute to strengthening the health system through targeted interventions at the state level for improved health outcomes. States are being empowered to manage health programs, leverage domestic resources and plan for sustainability. State engagement as an approach involves empowering states and building states’ capacity to plan, coordinate, manage, and improve the coverage and monitoring of ATM-related services and health systems strengthening efforts.

The RSSH grant is supporting seven states to conduct priority health systems strengthening interventions. Each state’s activities are determined by the state’s priority needs resulting in a diverse set of activities.

The objectives of the project:

The technical support to NACA entails:

• Providing technical assistance, supervising, coordinating, and certifying the implementation of state-led RSSH activities to improve ATM services.
• Building the capacity of selected states on Global Fund grant implementation requirements and guidelines.

Interventions: PGS is supporting NACA to achieve the result of “states empowered to manage health programs, leverage domestic resources and plan for sustainability” by:

1. Strengthening the existing capacity based on the identified management systems gaps.
2. Strengthening the capacity of State Ministries of Health (SMOH) through a combination of experiential and group learning-based training, accompaniment, and direct technical assistance. These are focused on the design, development, implementation, and management of systems for health programs.
3. Providing technical assistance to states to leverage domestic resources and plan for sustainability by supporting them to conduct funding landscape assessments, identify and harmonize all government funding sources, and strengthen innovative financing mechanisms, including state social health insurance schemes.
4. Providing appropriate technical assistance on planning, coordination, and management within the context of improving coverage and monitoring of ATM-related services and efforts around strengthening the health systems.
5. Supporting the development of soft skills by training and hand-holding the leadership. This includes team-building exercises, enhanced stewardship, coordination, and the ability to use data to make informed decisions.
6. Putting in place an effective change management process that includes creating a sense of urgency, undertaking focused actions, and periodically measuring the results of the change process

Related Activities: Program Management, Financial Management, Procurement Supply Management (MS), Laboratory Systems, Monitoring and Evaluation, Capacity Development