2012-2015 Strategy main focus at PMNCH Board Retreat
9-10 MARCH 2011 | CAMBRIDGE – Some 30 Board members, new and old, of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) gathered with new Director, Dr Carole Presern, to discuss strategy for the coming years at a retreat held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Participants analyzed the successes of PMNCH’s present Strategy, and discussed the key areas for future work in 2012-15. The 2010 PMNCH Annual report and the 2010 Partners' Forum Report - From Pledges to Action were presented.
PMNCH Board
The PMNCH retreat was also a time to welcome new Board members in several Constituencies including the Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO), Academic, Research and Training Institutions (ART), Health Care Professional Associations (HCPA) and Donor Constituencies, and thank and bid adieu to long-standing outgoing Board members. (Please see related story for details: New PMNCH Board members welcomed at Retreat). The retreat also celebrated a record number of members in PMNCH, which now has 404 members from six different constituencies. With the latest acceptance of some 17 new members, PMNCH now has 404 partners from six different constituencies.
The aim of the retreat was to agree on key areas for the 2012-2015 Strategic Framework, and the following three objectives were set:
- A clear understanding of the global political, financial, and institutional context for RMNCH, and the linkages with the UNSG Global Strategy and accountability process;
- A discussion and consensus on PMNCH’s “value-added”, in the context of point 1 above, and how to apply the partner-centric 'value-added' principle to PMNCH’s work;
- The implications for the PMNCH 2012-2015 Strategy and next steps.
Sessions
The two-day retreat opened with an introduction and welcome to the new Board Members and new Director, Dr Carole Presern, by the Chair Dr Julio Frenk, Dean of Harvard School of Public Health. This was followed by a presentation by Bob Orr, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations, on the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. Thanking the PMNCH as a whole, and noting the instrumental work of the Board, Mr Orr went on to identify this year’s priorities for the Global Strategy, including: 1) implementation, 2)accountability and 3) increased commitments.
Dr Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director General, World Health Organization (WHO), and Ms Purnima Mane, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), addressed the present situation for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH):
- Dr Bustreo gave a snapshot of the current status of MNCH globally, an overview of advances, achievements, challenges and gaps as well as highlighting accountability issues with the WHO spearheading the UN Information and Accountability Commission;
- Ms Mane set out the progress of the implementation of the Strategy in countries, as followed up by the H4+ (UN health organizations).
Three Board Members with long-time experience in PMNCH -- Helga Fogstad (NORAD), Vinod Paul (Newborn Health Expert and Co-Chair) and Ann Starrs (FCI) -- reflected on some key issues for PMNCH by presenting their experience of what has worked well in the past, what has not worked and what are the potential new opportunities for The Partnership.
These plenary sessions were followed by several break-out and plenary sessions which explored the PMNCH vision, mission and strategic objectives. There was also discussion about possible models for the work of the Partnership in its next phase.
On your right, you can find the available presentations from the PMNCH Retreat and other related links. The full and official Note for the Record will follow shortly. A Working Group will now draft a revised Vision, Mission and Strategic Objectives based on conclusions from discussions which will be shared for feedback with Constituencies, and submitted to the PMNCH Board for approval in June 2011.