LMG

Strong, well-functioning health systems need strong leadership, management, and governance. Over the next couple of weeks, leading up to conversations that MSH is hosting at the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research next month in Vancouver, we will be sharing stories and insights about the role of leadership, management and governance in health systems strengthening. This is the second in a series of four blog posts on this topic. See part one.

Linvell Nkhoma is a midwife manager at Mitundu Community Hospital in northern Lilongwe, Malawi. She lives on the hospital premises so she can be on call 24 hours a day for emergencies or complicated cases that less experienced midwives don't know how to manage.

"We have limited space, only three delivery beds for 400 deliveries a month," Linvell said.

Linvell and her colleagues were concerned about overcrowding, and more importantly, the high rates at which mothers and babies were dying during deliveries.

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Young people are the next generation of leaders.

How many times do we say this, or some version of it? Yet, do we examine the rhetoric behind it? What does it mean to strengthen youth leaders and what do programs that embody this mantra look like?

This month, with support from USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health, the Leadership, Management & Governance (LMG) Project proudly launches www.YouthLeadGlobal.org, a community for youth leaders that also aims to gather information on programs that are developing youth leaders around the world with an online survey. With our collaborating networks, the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP) and Youth Health and Rights Coalition (YHRC), we are initiating a global search for promising youth leadership programs and approaches.

This post originally appeared on LMGforHealth.org in celebration of International Youth Day (August 12).

The current generation of 1.8 billion adolescents is the largest in history. These 1.8 billion people have a tremendous impact on all parts of the health system. Here are 10 reasons why young people can lead us to a healthier future:

This blog post is part of a series leading up to the 67^th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland from May 19 – 24, 2014. In conjunction with the WHA, the Leadership, Management & Governance (LMG) Project will host a side session with global health leaders titled, “Governance for Health: Priorities for Post-2015 and Beyond”. This blog series will offer insight on how good governance in the health system can result in stronger health impact as we move beyond the Millennium Development Goals. This post originally appeared on the LMGforHealth Blog.

While substantial progress in the Millennium Development Goals will have been achieved in many countries by 2015, reductions in preventable maternal and infant deaths lags, and the persistent struggle of disease burdens from communicable and non-communicable diseases is worrying.

Documenting and sharing the perspectives of women leaders is an effective way of amplifying the collective voices of women to bring about change. Women often do not have a platform to tell their stories. These stories are personal and resonate with those of other women who aspire to leadership positions. The Leadership, Management & Governance (LMG) Project has captured some of these stories in our newest publication, "An Open Mind and a Hard Back: Conversations with African Women Leaders." 

This publication seeks to provide insights on ways women lead and govern, and the qualities and characteristics they have as leaders. It is a summary of interviews conducted with over a dozen women leaders working across the fields of government, health, law, and social reform in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia. The interviews took place from January to March 2013.

This post originally appeared on the LMGforHealth Blog.

In discussions around the importance of country ownership of health-related activities and initiatives, both Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and the Leadership, Management, and Governance (LMG) Project are committed to making sure that the role of civil society is taken into consideration and promoted, in line with USAID Forward’s drive to engage and strengthen local capacity.

This post originally appeared on USAID’s IMPACT blog. USAID is observing World AIDS Day this year by celebrating ten years of HIV and AIDS work under PEPFAR.

More than 85,000 infants in Nigeria are at risk of HIV transmission from their mothers every year. While the number of HIV-positive pregnant women who receive antiretroviral treatment (ART) is increasing, robust efforts to improve coverage are needed if national targets (PDF) for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) are to be met in 2015.