International Health Policy Program -Thailand Reflection on experience in using JANS with sector strategy Phusit Prakongsai, MD. Ph.D. International Health Policy Program (IHPP) Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Thailand JANS consultation on lessons learned and future directions Hammamet, Tunisia February 2012

Better funding of effective strategy 2. Encourage partners to fund national strategy 1. Improve quality of the health strategy 3. Reduce transaction costs Goals: Adequate health financing and better health outcomes

3 Draft 3 of the Plan DPF team Draft 4 Nov 1 Final version JANS team: Independent assessment with the application of JANS tools on the processes and content of the consecutive development of the plan until the final version PM Directive 751 on formulation of 5 year SEDP, Evidence based: HMIS, JHAR and other inputs, health achievements in Plan , contextual environment Participatory engagement by national, sub-national and international partners’ contributions, regional and national consultation workshops Consultation 9 Nov 2010 Office Prime Minister Inputs, deliberations, engagement, participation Approaches of JANS team in Viet Nam in 2010

International Health Policy Program -Thailand General observation of JANS tool (1) Different objectives among different stakeholders, but using the same tool, Country’s perspectives: – Improving quality, feasibility, and relevancy of the national plan/strategy to tackle national health priorities, – Mobilize more domestic resources and from donors to fund the national plan/strategy, – Reducing transaction costs and burden on reporting system, and assessment at the country level. International development agencies and donors – Improve confidence, and encourage international partners to be harmonized, and fund the national plan/strategy, – Reduce duplication, fragmentation, and transaction costs among donors and development agencies, – Understand comprehensive pictures of the national health plan/strategy and their roles in tackling national health priorities. 4

International Health Policy Program -Thailand JANS principles (1) Country-demand driven and country led – Variations in commitment and intention from countries, – Different contexts and involvement of key actors in each country  MOH and other key stakeholders, – Any criteria or indicators to be used as prerequisite or pre- assessment of country’s demand driven, not a requirement from donors or international development agencies, Build on existing in-country process – Variations in development process of country’s plan/strategy, – Which stage of the assessment would be most useful and effective for JANS approaches? – Have to be aware of country context specific, for example, different degree of involvement of key stakeholders, and their perspectives on the national plan/strategy  need technical skill of stakeholder’s and policy process analysis. 5

International Health Policy Program -Thailand JANS principles (2) Strong independent element in assessment team – Variations in quality and technical skills/strengths of the assessment team, – Limitation of independent local researchers in developing countries, – Limitation of secondary data and time limitation of assessment, only two to four weeks, – How can we standardize and have quality control of the assessment team? – The importance of the local assessment team. Inclusive: civil society and other stakeholders – Variations in involvement and participation from key stakeholders, civil society, – How can we improve the sense of country’s ownership for JANS approaches? 6

International Health Policy Program -Thailand Some key success factors of the assessment team International consultants – Must know country’s context and key actors in the country, – Strong technical skills and leadership, – Well accepted by the country, and can communicate with all stakeholders, – Country will choose from a list of experts supported by IHP+. Local consultants/researchers – Independent, – Good quality and have strong technical skills, – Highly committed to work as a team. Advantage of having local independent consultants – Their understanding in local language, quality of evidence, country context, culture, and behavior of key stakeholders – Building up long-term capacity of researchers in the country. 7

International Health Policy Program -Thailand Further steps of sector strategy JANS Allow to have different models and variety in JANS approaches, but need comprehensive M&E, Need further research on the impact of JANS tool – Direct and indirect impacts on three objectives, particularly funder’s perspectives and acceptance on JANS approaches, – Achievements in reduction of transaction costs, and duplication in reporting system and donor’s assessment, – Other unintentional or negative impacts Advantages and disadvantages of different approaches of JANS team  standardization and quality control??? Explore enabling environment and key factors influencing success and failure of JANS approaches. Synthesis successful models, and continue applying effective approaches in some targeting countries. 8