July 5, 2005

From Egypt to Afghanistan—A South-to-South Leadership Development Exchange

In May 2005, 15 Afghan doctors visited Upper Egypt's Aswan region, where health staff are continuing the leadership development begun with Management Sciences for Health under the USAID-funded cooperative agreement, Management and Leadership Program (M&L), from 2002-2003. Because they perceived fundamental similarities between the two regions, Afghan visitors reported that the techniques they witnessed in the traditional Islamic setting of Aswan could also work in the health sector of Afghanistan, which currently faces significant challenges. In Aswan, leadership facilitators say: "Think big. Start small. Act now." This concept resonated with the Afghan visitors. With his country's specific challenges in mind, one Afghan doctor explained, "We will start in one place within a province, and like when dropping a stone in a pond, the ripples will spread to the rest of the country."

All health systems need managers that lead—those that inspire people to face challenges and work together to achieve results. Such leaders are needed at all levels of any health system. This is a guiding belief of the M&L Program, which works with health organizations in both the public and private sectors around the world to encourage and guide leadership development. The M&L Program strives not only to promote leadership within the health sector, but also to ensure that any leadership approach is appropriate, desired, and self-sustaining. M&L is also guided by the belief that leadership development becomes a valued and permanent part of people's lives only when it is driven by local interests; the M&L Program aims to promote leaders today who will teach leaders tomorrow.

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March 21, 2005

Summary of M&L’s technical assistance with Mozambique’s IMCI Program

The Management and Leadership Program (M&L) of Management Sciences for Health assisted the National Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) Program in Mozambique from September 2003 through August 2004 by providing logistics support to the development of management systems and educational materials for training medical and paramedical staff in IMCI.

The IMCI Program of the Ministry of Health of Mozambique (MOH) is focused on assisting the Child Health Section of the Department of Community Health to improve the quality of childcare in the health system, leading to the reduction of morbidity and mortality of neonates, infants, and children, within the context of the overall goal of the National Integrated Health Plan.

The relatively recent introduction of the IMCI Program in Mozambique by the World Health Organization (WHO), required extensive training and refresher training for all senior health care staff and institutionalization of IMCI in educational institutions that train health care providers. It also required that educational materials, namely a standard set of IMCI manuals in Portuguese, be made available in the health sector. M&L provided logistical support for IMCI training and IMCI management information systems.

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Read about M & L activities in Mozambique

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 November 22, 2004  VLDP: Virtual Pathways Leading Africa’s Fight Against HIV/AIDS

 July 31, 2004  The Virtual Center for Leadership and Management Is Launched

 November 26, 2003  The Technical Cooperation Network for management and leadership

 November 11, 2003  Rapid Funding for HIV/AIDS Programs

 June 19, 2003  M&L Blended Learning Programs Featured at 2003 IT Conference

 December 13, 2002  Launch of Lidernet Brazil