This document includes the commitments relating to strengthening and using country systems that have been included in the Ethiopia, Mozambique and Nepal country compacts.  You can follow the links to see the full country compacts.

Ethiopia IHP Country Compact Commitments for strengthening and using country systems

The following are the commitments from the Ethiopia Country Compact which refer to important elements for strengthening and using country systems.

Government Commitments

40. the Government will:

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 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.

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 consultation through the existing Government and donor dialogue fora with the key goal being to achieve appropriate improvements that would facilitate the institutionalization of MDG Fund.

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 PASDE and HSD3 financing scenarios and increase the domestic allocation to the health sector over time. Government finances the health sector through treasury; particularly it allocates funds to the MDG Fund for public goods and capacity building activities.

h. Further institutionalize the MDG 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 Fund (including procurement post review, management and financial audit).

i. Implement and report on a single results based framework for the HSDP, which will be reviewed as appropriate.

k. Further improve on the information management system for financial and technical programmes reporting, joint monitoring and evaluation system.

m. Implement procurement reforms and processes including functionality of the Pharmaceutical Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA).

IV. Development Partner Signatories’ Commitments

41. The Development Partner signatories to this compact commit to:

g. Move towards: i) financing health activities according to the one plan, one budget and one-report principle (HSDP3 and HSDP Harmonization Manual), ii) providing flexible resources to cover the financing gap to progress on MDG 4 and 5 as well as health system strengthening, iii) using governments' scaling up plan and documents as a basis for estimating the financing envelopes and specific support to be provided, iv) use a common validation mechanism of the country plan to be taking place once a year at the time of the ARM, v) use the one-plan, one-budget and one-report framework for results and financial reports vi) improve predictability of resources, preferably committing to 5-10 years financing (minimum 3 years).

h. Use as much as possible the preferred modes of financing of the Government of Ethiopia mainly i) block-grant to woreda for recurrent costs and/or ii) financing of the MDG Fund for public goods and capacity building activities including upgrade of infrastructure, equipping, furnishing, upgrade of logistics and training.

i. Increase the proportion of unearmarked donor funds channeled through the MDG Fund to meet the target of 60% by 2010 and 90% by 2015. To make this happen, further improvements in planning and budgeting as noted earlier, in financial management and in procurement systems will be required, to enable activities previously funded by donor earmarked funds to be integrated into the sector specific budget.

j. Use, to the extent possible, Government systems to procure, disburse, implement, report, monitor, account, and audit their assistance, providing coordinated technical assistance as required in order to strengthen those systems and make them fit for the purpose of meeting the full range of both Ethiopian and external requirements.

k. Rely on the national monitoring and evaluation system, minimising the request for additional reporting in formats different to those required by Government.

n. Coordinate to ensure that necessary technical assistance is provided as required to improve aid management capacity. Development Partners particularly commit to providing joint and harmonized TA on all crosscutting issues including evidence based planning, costing, budgeting, harmonization and alignment, fiduciary systems strengthening and health system strengthening issues.

Mozambique IHP Country Compact Commitments for strengthening and using country systems

The following are the commitments from the Mozambique Country Compact which refer to important elements for strengthening and using country systems.

A. Government IHP Goals: Ministry of Health (MoH ) and National AIDS Council (CNCS)

The Government of Mozambique will:

1. Ensure that the National Health Strategic Plan (PESS), strategic plans and the overall, National HIV/AIDS Strategy (PEN) and the annual plans (PES) contain clear objectives and targets in line with the MDGs; Ensure that the measures required to achieve the targets are evidence-based and are fully costed and that the objectives and targets are realistic and achievable, taking into account implementation capacity and projections of the available resource envelope. Ensure that the strategies (PESS and PEN) are consistent with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PARPA), that there is a clear framework for monitoring and evaluation, and that a simple achievable certification process is in place for the national Health and HIV/AIDS plans.

5. Continue to improve the quality of public financial management systems at central and provincial government levels, by strengthening central, provincial and district financial management capacity, and by implementing comprehensive reforms in public finance management and undertaking annual reviews of progress in consultation with partners. In Health this will be based upon the public financial management diagnostic work agreed on signing of the PROSAUDE Memorandum of Understanding,

6. 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, in MoH and CNCS, and a prioritized capacity building plan will be devised and implemented, to include capacities in central and local government.

7. Continue to strengthen monitoring and evaluation and reporting using Performance Appraisal Frameworks (PAF) for Health and HIV/AIDS. Establish strong linkages between the Health and HIV/ AIDS PAFs and use these as the monitoring tools for reviewing performance.

B. Development partner country level IHP guiding principles (Health & HIV/AIDS)

1. One Plan and one single country validation process

The signatories of the PROSAUDE II MoU have agreed to support one Economic and Social Plan for the Health Sector (PES), which is based on the Health sector’s Strategic Plan (PESS) and which reflects all of the sector’s interventions, targets, and internal and external resources, and will be the subject of discussion between MISAU and the PROSAUDE donor signatories prior to its finalization. The signatories of the PROSAUDE II MoU have agreed to assess and discuss jointly the annual health sector PES, including the health sector budget, the matrix of sector performance indicators (Health Sector PAF) and the annual progress reports of the PES of the health sector (Reports on “Balanço do PES-Sectorial”) (Art 3.1. of the PROSAUDE II MoU).

2. One single results framework and monitoring process

MISAU and the donor signatories of the PROSAUDE II MoU have jointly approved Health Sector Performance Assessment Framework (Health PAF), e.g. a matrix of indicators and annual targets, with the objective of monitoring the progress of the implementation of the health sector’s strategic plan (PESS) (art 3.1. of the PROSAUDE II MoU).

The signatories of the PROSAUDE II MoU have decided that the coordination, monitoring and review with regard to the implementation of the PESS will take place within the context of the SWAp. The monitoring and the review process have as their objective to be fully in harmony with and integrated into the GoM's planning, budgeting, and reporting cycle and follow an approved timetable (art. 6.2 of the PROSAUDE II MoU).

3. One Budget

The PROSAUDE II MoU presents a single financing mechanism, inscribed within the State Budget (OE), by which funds will be made available through the Treasury and audited with the OE by the General Finance Inspectorate (IGF) and by the Administrative Court (TA). The signatory donors to the PROSAUDE MoU will ensure the predictability of funds provision, by providing MoH with an indication of their medium-term financial contributions, preferably on a rolling basis over at least three consecutive years, based on the budget needs of the PESS and consistent with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). In order to facilitate integrated planning and annual budget preparation in accordance with GoM’s cycle, the signatories will communicate annually the total financial contributions which they intend to make available to the sector for the following year, within a four-week period following the end of the Annual Joint Review (around April each year) (Preamble iv, art. 3.2. and art. 5.1 of the PROSAUDE II MoU).

4. One single fiduciary framework

The signatories of the MoU have agreed that MoH will execute all financial management in accordance with applicable national legislation (Art. 9.1 and art. 10.1 of the PROSAUDE II MoU).

5. Alignment

The signatories of the PROSAUDE II MoU will respect the principles of harmonization and alignment, as internationally accepted in the context of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the principle of mutual accountability, including the financial component. They strive to achieve the highest degree of alignment with the budgetary and accounting system and with the GoM’s legislation, with the objective of an alignment of processes so as to make planning and implementation more efficient, reduce the administrative burden and minimize transaction costs, while at the same time recognizing the need to strengthen MoH’s internal capacity and procedures. The signatories of the PROSAUDE II MoU have agreed that external funds will be channeled through common mechanisms aligned as much as possible with the GoM’s public financial management system, to support implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Health Sector (PESS) in order to strengthen institutional and financial management capacity, in terms of:

(i) Annual joint monitoring and evaluation of performance of MISAU and the signatory donors against agreed targets for the implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Health Sector (PESS) and the annual Economic and Social Plan of the health sector (PES);

(ii) Common procedures of disbursement;

(iii) Procedures for reporting and auditing. (Art. 2 of the PROSAUDE II MoU)

UN agencies in Mozambique - Commitment of intent

UNAIDS

UNAIDS is committed to increase the degree of alignment of our entire programme in support of the multisectoral framework headed by the National Aids Council (CNCS) and the National AIDS Strategic Plan and within the overall framework of the Delivering as One UN Initiative in Mozambique.

UNFPA

UNFPA will support the Ministry of Health (MoH) by channeling funds through the PROSAUDE II and through project support modalities. UNFPA support to Ministry of Health is fully aligned with the principles set out in the PROSAUDE II Memorandum of Understanding and the International Health Partnership Compact.

UNICEF

UNICEF will be providing both sector budget support through PROSAUDE II and project support through other funding modalities to support the implementation of the Health Sector Strategic Plan.

UNICEF’s PROSAUDE II funding is fully aligned with the principles of the one plan, one budget, and one monitoring and evaluation system. UNICEF’s commitment under the International Health Partnership Compact is to increase the degree of alignment of the entire programme of support of UNICEF, within the overall framework of the Delivering as One UN Initiative in Mozambique. In particular, UNICEF is committed to maintaining and enhancing its adherence to:

- one plan and one single country validation process

- one single results framework and monitoring process

- one budget and scaled up financing

- one single fiduciary framework and alignment.

WB Agency Specific Commitment of Intent

1. One Plan and One Single Country Validation Process

The Bank supports one single health plan with a corresponding costing framework linked to the sector’s policy objectives.

2. One Single Results Framework and Monitoring Process

The Bank has been and will continue to participate with other DPs in the joint annual reviews and mid-year review of the government program. Also, in the context of the HIV/AIDS Response Project (MAP), the Bank relies on the CNCS results framework and monitoring process to assess implementation of its annual work plan. Similarly, most of the indicators to be used for the Health Service Delivery Program (HSDP) are extracted from the M&E system of the MOH. The Bank plans its implementation support missions to coincide with the joint annual and mid-year reviews. To the extent possible, other DPs will take part in the MAP and HSDP. Missions.. The ToRs of such missions and the aide memoires will be shared with DPs. When additional technical missions are required, the Bank will inform DPs and seek their participation.

3. One Budget

The support that the Bank, WHO and UNICEF are providing on the MTEF is based on the principle of one expenditure framework to allow for a more coherent formulation of the annual budget. In addition, the HSDP will contribute to one overall sector plan and budget.

5. One Single Fiduciary Framework

The Bank’s objective is to work with other DPs to build capacity and strengthen country systems so they can eventually be relied upon to manage all financing, inclusive of contributions by the DPs. From that review, the Bank agreed with the MOH on key actions to strengthen procurement and financial management functions, as well as some measures and safeguards needed to address identified weaknesses.

In addition, with the goal of ultimately relying on transparent and accountable country systems, the Bank will continue to work with other DPs in updating the overall country assessment of fiduciary systems through specific analysis such as Public Expenditure and Financial Assessment (PEFA), CPAR and other evaluations, which will be the basis for reforms.

Nepal IHP Country Compact Commitments for strengthening and using country systems

The following are the commitments from the Nepal Country Compact which refer to important elements for strengthening and using country systems.

1.    To build on and make efficient use of the existing system for planning, coordination, delivery and management of the health sector within NHSP and the overall national development framework, in order to achieve the MDGs.

2.    To engage in quarterly Health Sector Development Partners Forum meetings, and coordinated research.

3.    To plan jointly for the HSP-II (2010-2015), making definite time commitments and providing technical cooperation and technical assistance as necessary. To participate in preparing NHSP-IP II (2010-2015), incorporating mutually accepted costing estimates for the agreed upon goals and targets.

4.    To full engagement in the JARs and to completion of the Action Plans documented in the resulting Aide Memoires.