Skip to content

The Political Dimensions of Rebuilding Health Systems in Afghanistan and South Sudan – A podcast for the Fragility Forum 2022

KIT is pleased to join and contribute to the Fragility Forum 2022 hosted by the World Bank from 7 to 15 March 2022.

The Fragility Forum provides the opportunity for organizations that work on development in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS) to exchange ideas on development approaches to foster peace and stability.

KIT has years of experience supporting health systems strengthening and sexual and reproductive health and rights in settings affected by fragility, violence, and conflict. We are therefore honoured to participate in the Forum and use this opportunity to share some of our experiences and expertise through a podcast. In it, we speak to Dr. George Lutwama and Dr. Eelco Jacobs about their experience working as part of the Health Pooled Fund in South Sudan. 

This programme, now in its third cycle, pools funds from donors such as the UK, US, Canadian and Swedish governments, as well as Gavi and the EU. It supports the provision of basic health services in eight of the ten states in South Sudan through contracting NGOs and other implementing partners. 

We are also joined by Dr. Ahmad Shah Salehi, a health economist and former advisor to the Afghan government, who shares his experience on rebuilding the health system in Afghanistan. KIT has worked in Afghanistan as a third-party for monitoring and evaluation of the Sehatmandi project, which contracts out health service delivery to NGOs. This project is funded by the World Bank and is managed by the Afghan Ministry of Health.  

In this podcast, we look through a political lens to compare the experiences of South Sudan and Afghanistan’s contracting out modalities. And we draw out lessons for the role of external assistance in supporting health systems strengthening in FCAS.

https://youtu.be/WIektISVxKk

This podcast is edited by Harry Coleman, the opening tune is provided by Tristan Bayly, and hosted by Bipasha van der Zijde.

For more information on the Forum and other podcasts, please see: https://hopin.com/events/fragility-forum-2022