Ethiopia Compact Draft Media Strategy 07 July 2008
General information on Country Compacts:
The Country Compact is a negotiated and signed time-bound agreement in which all partners agree to implement and uphold the defined country health priorities outlined in the country health plan. Therefore, signatories to the Country Compact agree that all existing and future investments are based on the ONE country health plan (which is results based and costed) with clear performance benchmarks for all parties that are monitored in order to hold all parties accountable for their actions.
The main objective is to set out a framework for increased and more effective aid in order to permit countries to make faster progress towards the health-related MDGs. In general, the Country Compact will result in:
· Increased focus on results and on national health strategies and plans
· Long-term predictable financing of the national health strategies and plans (from both domestic and international sources)
· Improved harmonization of aid
· Improved coordination between governments, national stakeholders and development partners
· Strengthened mutual accountability and transparency
The Country Compact will in most countries build on existing country work and mechanisms (i.e., MoUs ore Code of Conducts, national strategies and plans). It will always be based on the existing (and possibly enhanced) national health strategy and plan. It will then have a process on how this national strategy and plan is appraised/validated at country level, in order for development partners and government to make financing decisions. It will also always have an agreed on in-country process of monitoring verifiable results and the performance of the process.
The Country Compact will likely establish many of the following:
· The guiding principles and management arrangements that will be observed by Government and development partners in order to improve the contribution of official development assistance (ODA) to achieving the health-related MDGs;
· The specific commitments and obligations agreed by the Government for the implementation of the compact;
· The minimum level of total aid for health that the signatories collectively commit to provide to the country in each year in a defined time period;
· The specific commitments and obligations agreed by the development partner signatories with respect to the future management of their development assistance;
· The agreed arrangements for monitoring compliance and resolving disputes, and the remedies available in the event of noncompliance with the provisions of this agreement.
The guidelines of arriving at the Compact, while important and meaningful, should not be considered hard and fast requirements. The Compact might come in different formats based on local circumstances and agreements.
Q: How will the Country Compacts be different from already existing frameworks and processes in countries?
In many IHP+ countries, the sector coordinating process is already far advanced, many IHP+ countries also have SWAps and PRSP’s and some have second generation PRSP’s in place.
The Country Compact builds on the experiences and lessons learned from these processes and goes one step beyond. The Country Compact will likely be based on the following elements (where possible):
· ONE country health plan
· ONE results framework
· ONE policy matrix
· ONE budget
· ONE joint monitoring and reporting process
· ONE country-based appraisal/validation process of the country health plan
Many of these elements, are currently not present in SWAps. Also it is important to go beyond the Country Compact itself. Part of the value-added of the IHP+ approach is in countries undertaking the IHP+ process itself, which aims to harmonize and rally all donors around a nationally organized framework linked to concrete, measurable results, costed scenarios for scale-up and government leadership. This dialogue will help to build trust and fosters new ways of working together among all parties at the country-level.
Key messages: Ethiopia
The compact is in place in order to formalize agreements reached between the Government of Ethiopia and development partners active in Ethiopia who are signatories to the IHP+ process.
The main objective is to set out a framework for increased and more effective aid, in order to permit Ethiopia to make faster progress towards the Health Millennium Development goals (MDGs).
This compact is the first of its kind for the International Health Partnership The compact establishes:
a. The guiding principles and management arrangements that will be observed by Government and development partners in order to improve the contribution of official development assistance (ODA) to achieving the health MDGs.
b. The specific commitments and obligations agreed by the Government for the implementation of this compact.
c. A collective target for the minimum level of total aid for health, and particularly of pooled aid, that the signatories collectively commit to provide to Ethiopia in each year in the period 2008-2015.
d. The specific commitments and obligations agreed by the development partner signatories with respect to the future management of their development assistance.
e. The agreed arrangements for monitoring compliance and resolving disputes, and the remedies available in the event of non-compliance with the provisions of this agreement.
Commitments made:
Government of Ethiopia:
a. Ensure that strategic plans and the overall PASDEP and HSDP contain clear objectives and targets in line with the MDGs Needs Assessment, that the measures required to achieve the targets are evidence-based and are fully costed, that that the objectives and targets can realistically be achieved taking into account implementation capacity and projections of the available resource envelope, that HSDP is consistent with the PASDEP, that they are the outcome of a consultative process involving development partners, and that there is a clear framework for monitoring and evaluation.
b. Consult with and engage stakeholders each year on development of one plan, revisions to plans and sector strategies via the JBAR and the Annual Review Meeting (ARM) of the health sector, and continued participation
in the annual reviews of the macro-economic framework.
c. Implement the budget in a manner consistent with the agreed allocations, consulting in advance with the development partners on major envisaged changes to budget allocations during the financial year.
d. Continue to improve the quality of public financial management systems at both central and local government levels, by implementing comprehensive reforms in public finance management, and undertaking annual reviews of progress in consultation with the Joint Donor Group as part of the JBAR.
e. Verify the improvements in public finance management by collecting independent information and analysis through a programme of studies to be agreed with MOFED and FMOH, and to support a regular programme of public expenditure reviews and public expenditure tracking studies.
f. Ensure adequate capacity to manage and coordinate enhanced aid flows. To this end an assessment of capacity needs to facilitate the management of aid will be undertaken, and a prioritized capacity building plan will be devised and implemented, to include capacities in central and local government, as well as other bodies managing externally sourced resources.
g. Fund the health sector in accordance with PASDEP and HSDP3 financing scenarios. Government finances the health sector through treasury, particularly it allocates funds to the MDG Performance Fund for public goods and capacity building activities.
h. Further institutionalize the MDGs Performance Fund to encourage all Development Partners and global initiatives to place their financial resources into this Fund. Establish an annual process of independent audit
of the MDG PF. (including procurement post review, management and financial audit).
i. Develop, implement and report on a single results based framework to be used for the monitoring of the health program.
j. Review and improve on the performance based contracts between the federal level and the regions, and the regions and the woredas/zones on one hand and between the administrative levels and service providers on
the other hand.
k. Further improve on the information management system for financial and technical programmes reporting, joint monitoring and evaluation system. rovide political support to increase the domestic allocation to health by the
regions and woredas
m. Implement at procurement reforms and processes including functionality of the Pharmaceutical Fund and Supply Agency. (PFSA)
Development partners:
If Government complies with the principles and undertakings set out in this compact, the development partner signatories will commit to collectively ensure that the combined total of their development assistance during the years 2007-2015 is not less than the totals set out in Annex 1, with shortfalls in any year fully compensated either within the same year or in the subsequent year. This annex is extracted from the EFY2000 revised HSDP3 costing included in the Scaling up (IHP+) roadmap. The agreed minimum external funding levels will permit the Government to come as close as is practicable to achieving the MDGs, assuming that Government implements the policies and programmes set out in the PASDEP and that the macro-economy develops as forecast.
· What will be the outcome in terms of new services delivered, and more health outcomes achieved?
· What new funds are being delivered? From government? From donors?
· Is there a commitment to long-term, predictable funding?
· How will partners be changing their ways of working in line with compact commitments?