Whether in its role as an implementing partner managing large-scale HIV, TB, and malaria programmes funded by the Global Fund or as a technical assistance partner for health systems strengthening interventions, UNDP prioritizes the capacity development of national entities and systems for health. Leveraging its global experience, UNDP has established a systematic approach to capacity development based on a model of end-to-end support tailored to the country context and needs of partners. Its framework for capacity development starts with a participatory multi-stakeholder process to scope the priorities and conduct a comprehensive capacity assessment that informs the development of capacity development plan. UNDP then works closely with national stakeholders, making tools and guidance available, to support the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the capacity development plan.
Capacity development interventions should be based on a comprehensive understanding of how a system is currently working, what areas need support and how to prioritize investments according to the cross-cutting building blocks for resilient health systems. These could include developing and implementing health information systems, training staff in analysing data, developing policies and procedures for strong financial management, and improving the supply and distribution of key health products.
A valuable mechanism for applying a holistic and systematic approach to strengthen systems for health and the capacity of key stakeholders is the establishment of a nationally owned capacity development plan. In the context of its support to health programmes funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund) and the emphasis on enabling transition of grants to national entities when circumstances permit, UNDP works closely with governments and/or civil society organizations to develop costed capacity development and transition plans. These plans help partners to prioritize, implement and monitor capacity development investments and can serve as a tool to advocate for additional resources in key areas.
Refer to the page on Conducting the Capacity Assessment for related tools and templates.
UNDP’s approach
Whether in its role as an implementing partner managing large-scale HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund) or as a technical assistance partner for strengthening systems for health, UNDP prioritizes the capacity development of national entities and systems for health. Leveraging its global experience, UNDP has established a systematic approach to capacity development based on a model of end-to-end support tailored to the country context and the needs of partners. Its framework for capacity development starts with a participatory multi-stakeholder process to establish priorities and conduct a comprehensive capacity assessment that informs the development of the capacity development plan. UNDP then works closely with national stakeholders, making tools and guidance available, to support the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the capacity development plan.
This section offers tools and guidance for each stage of the capacity development process, whether in the context of overall health systems strengthening, civil society groups or specific programme areas. While developed through UNDP’s experiences of facilitating capacity development primarily in its role as interim Principal Recipient (PR) of programmes funded by the Global Fund, the process and tools can be adapted for different programme or policy objectives.
From working with multiple countries carrying out capacity development processes, UNDP has identified common factors that are key to successful capacity development. These include:
UNDP has been Principal Recipient (PR) of the malaria grant funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund) in Chad since 2008. In previous years, a vertical approach to the capacity-strengthening of systems for health by different partners contributed to parallel systems and inefficiencies in investments for health. To address these weaknesses, through UNDP support, the Ministry of Health (MoH) created the central Programme Management Unit (PMU), under the direction of the MoH Chief of Staff, to move towards an integrated approach to capacity development and coordinate external aid. Since July 2018, the MoH PMU has been contracted by UNDP as a subrecipient of the malaria grant. In January 2019, it became PR of the HIV/tuberculosis/health system strengthening grant, with support from the French 5% Initiative for technical assistance. UNDP provided technical support and a contribution of $450,000 to facilitate the formulation and monitoring of a comprehensive multi-donor MoH capacity-building plan. It helped to convene United Nations, bilateral, international non-governmental organization and multilateral partners in a consensus workshop to harmonize activities and investments. The resulting economies of scale supported the government to finance three key structural priority areas: the health information system, procurement and supply management, and human resources. Implementation of the capacity development plan to support the transition of the national malaria programme to the MoH PMU included UNDP coaching of national counterparts, French technical assistance funding of four international experts in the PMU and a progressive transfer of responsibilities in accordance with measurable milestones.