Maternal Health Task Force

POPPHI Working Group Meeting, Washington DC, April 6, 2009

Background

July–November 2008:

– Advancing Maternal Health: Action, Architecture, Engagement

Meeting convened by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) seeking input on the development of a new coordinating and convening entity to advance maternal health agendas globally

– BMGF invited EngenderHealth to submit a proposal to host the new entity (approved in Nov. 2008)

Background

November 2008–February 2009:

– Convened EngenderHealth Internal Advisory Group

– Retained consultants

– Officially announced MHTF and survey sent to broad base of stakeholders

– Conducted interviews with small number of critical partners

– Recruited Director of the MHTF project

– Developed draft Terms of Reference

– Launched at meeting in DC, February 17- 18

A Unique and Valuable Opportunity to:

– Add to the momentum already underway to position maternal health as a global and country level priority

– Bring advocacy & policy, research & evidence, and application & evaluation closer together

– Advance the global and country-level maternal health agendas and, therefore, contribute to improving maternal health

Challenges

– Avoid unnecessary duplication

– Elicit active participation of partners

– Closely involve developing country organizations

– Engage new players

– Meet the unique requirements of a very diverse community

– Prove value and impact within three-year project span.

– Sustain the focus on maternal health beyond life of current project

Vision

The MHTF aims to be a far-reaching, diverse, and dynamic community using evidence-based approaches to move the maternal health agendas forward

Core Values

The MHTF will:

– Add value without overlapping or competing with existing initiatives

– Proactively involve developing country colleagues and organizations

– Operate collaboratively, transparently and inclusively

– Foster innovation, flexibility, respect for differences, and a willingness to compromise

– Communicate frequently with a broad community of partners

– Recognize and celebrate all participants’ accomplishments

Overarching Goal

Build common, evidence-based agendas in…

research and evidence

application and evaluation

advocacy and policy

…to advance maternal health at the global and country levels

Objective 1 and Project Activities

Objective 1: To provide an inclusive, collaborative, and vibrant space for dialogue and consensus building on maternal health agendas

– Identify and engage current stakeholders and new participants

– Give a stronger voice to national organizations and individuals

– Create face-to-face and virtual spaces of encounter

Objective 2 and Project Activities

Objective 2: To guide identification of critical areas of debate and gaps in the maternal health field, and establish effective mechanisms to address them

– Offer a safe and objective space for reaching consensus

– Collect existing evidence to support an objective dialogue

– Commission strategic research

– Develop systematic reviews and knowledge management tools

– Compile and conduct new case studies and examine lessons learned

Objective 3 and Project Activities

Objective 3: To stimulate new thinking, approaches, and action to improve maternal health

– Involve experts in fields traditionally not linked to maternal health

– Develop innovative, engaging and relevant information sharing and knowledge management platforms

– Stimulate novel approaches to advance the maternal health agenda

– Establish a program for young champions in maternal health to identify and nurture a new cadre of professionals

Objective 4 and Project Activities

Objective 4: To compile and develop instruments to empower constituents to carry out maternal health agendas

– Compile existing effective and relevant tools

– Develop priority and pertinent new tools

– Disseminate a set of pragmatic, evidence-based, and user-friendly tools that provide clear and comprehensive guidelines on how to deal with challenges at the country and global levels

Next Steps

– Finalize TOR

– Establish the mechanisms required for collaboration and operation of the MHTF

– Finalize work plan for the balance of year one

– Recruit rest of MHTF team

– Start implementation

Thank you !