Members of the P4H Coordination Desk (P4H-CD) facilitated a session on partnership at the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO). Notably, the role of P4H country focal persons was illustrated by a presentation on their work in Cameroon.
On 19 March 2024, the P4H Network contributed to Social Health Protection – Addressing Inequities in Access to Health Care, a course at ITCILO with a session titled Partnerships for the Extension of Social Health Protection to Previously Uncovered Groups. Facilitated by P4H-CD members from the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization, this session underscored the significant role of partnerships in advancing social health protection (SHP) and health financing (HF). The P4H Network was presented as a model robust network fostering multistakeholder collaborations at the global level and supporting countries’ efforts to strengthen health systems and advance universal health coverage (UHC).
During the session, the history, mission, key principles and results framework adopted by the P4H Network were introduced. Emphasis was placed on the diversity of institutions comprising the members of the P4H Network, the diversity P4H-country focal persons and P4H regional focal persons represent, as well as collaboration between the P4H Network and other regional networks to broaden the scope of SHP and HF initiatives.
The high point of the discussion was the role of P4H-CFPs at the country level as a unique feature of the P4H Network, as illustrated by Cameroon’s experience. This highlighted the added value of P4H-CFPs in supporting synergies in actions of development partners and national authorities, while also providing crucial technical support and capacity building.
An illustrative example that showcased collaboration between Chad and Cameroon facilitated by the P4H-CFP for Cameroon wrapped up the session. During the session, participants shared both countries’ experiences and discussed their road maps for advancing towards UHC, which focus on aligning development partners’ efforts while addressing implementation issues and enhancing resource mobilization commitments.
