Chaired by the WHO representative, the meeting gathered several P4H members. Representatives from the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development said they were preparing an important health system programme with a health financing component in Guinea.
On 23 April 2024, development partners working in health in Guinea met at the WHO office in the capital city, Conakry. Several P4H members attended, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), France (represented by the regional global health adviser), and the World Bank Group. Also in attendance were representatives of the European Union (EU), Enabel (Belgium’s development agency), the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Children’s Fund.
For this meeting, the representative from France had arranged a specific agenda point: an introduction to the P4H Network. The P4H Coordination Team presented “P4H in a Nutshell”, and Jean-François Caremel, a former P4H country focal person (P4H-CFP) in Niger, shared his country experience.
In the room, several participants were already familiar with the P4H Network: the EU representative, who had worked with P4H in Mauritania, and the World Bank representative, who had done the same in Burkina Faso. P4H-CFP Serge Mayaka, P4H-CFP in Côte d’Ivoire and member of the WHO health financing multi-country assignment team covering Guinea, added to Jean-François’s introduction. Serge spoke about the opportunity to deploy a P4H-CFP in situations where partners’ alignment in health financing, as well as joint capacity building to national administrations, can be key to leverage health financing and social health protection reforms.
Whether they were previously aware of the P4H Network or not, all participants appreciated the two presentations on theory combined with concrete actions.
Both the EU and USAID said they were preparing an important health system programme in Guinea, which includes a health financing component. WHO suggested organizing a specific meeting with these two actors to ensure coherence and alignment. P4H-CD and France will continue their discussions to facilitate this action. They are prepared to propose the P4H-CFP setup as a value proposition if needed, with whatever funding and contracting arrangement is assessed as the best option.
