The Three Millennium Development Goal Fund (3MDG) said it will partner with UNFPA to support the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) plans for health systems strengthening.
The $909,500 funding agreement was signed last week between Sanjay Mathur, UNOPS director and representative in Myanmar, and Janet Jackson, UNFPA representative in Myanmar.
Mathur said, “… this partnership furthers the contribution of 3MDG Fund to strengthening health systems and responds to the Ministry of Health’s priorities for attaining Universal Health Coverage in Myanmar.”
UNFPA said this will contribute to the MoH’s work on information for planning and strategy planning; as well as work to ensure enough trained health staff are available to provide necessary services.
“The MoH recently has drafted a number of key policies which promise to impact positively on reproductive health and rights in Myanmar. Funding from 3MDG gives impetus to this endeavour and extends farther the partnership, giving added opportunity for states and regions to get up-to-date and enable them to engage concretely in policy implementation. This will bring more consistency and strength to sector service provision on the ground, especially in the public sector,” said Jackson.
The partnership with UNFPA is expected to help advance the development of an essential package of health services particularly focused on the needs of women and children, and support to design and implement an action plan for the ministry’s Health Workforce Strategic Plan.
With technical support from UNFPA, the MoH staff will receive training on the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as well as data collection for the Myanmar Health Management Information System.
UNFPA will also work with the MoH on areas of sector policy, strategy, and planning, and specifically on strategic plans on adolescent and reproductive health as part of the National Health Plan.
This funding is part of a $20.7 million initiative to support the strengthening of health systems in Myanmar in partnership with four UN agencies (UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and the WHO) combining their expertise and resources to work with the Ministry of Health and its partners towards the improvement of health status of the people of Myanmar, in particular for women, children and adolescents and underserved communities.
